Alabama Crimson Tide vs Texas A&M Aggies

How Alabama has responded after its last 10 regular season losses

We know how a loss can light a fire under a Saban-coached team.

The word “lost” has rarely followed “Alabama” since Nick Saban took over the program in 2007. Outside of his first season, there has been nothing but wins in Tuscaloosa, bringing in seven SEC championships and six national championships.

Saturday was one of those days where people could say “Alabama lost” after Texas A&M pulled out a 41-38 victory in College Station. Plenty of streaks were snapped, including Saban’s undefeated record vs former assistant coaches, a 100 game winning streak vs unranked opponents, and the longest active win streak in the country at 19.

Throughout the past decade plus, the Crimson Tide have responded well after losses. Over the past 10, they are 9-1 the following game. The common opponent has been Mississippi State, playing them for the fourth time on Saturday.

Nobody within the program is going to be happy over the next week, even former players. We know how a loss can light a fire under a Saban-coached team.

Here is how Alabama has responded to its last 10 losses suffered in the regular season.

LOOK: Former Alabama players react on Twitter during loss to Texas A&M

Former players were not happy!

Alabama has the reputation of being NFLU. No other school has the resume of getting players into the league quite like Nick Saban’s program does. Most of them will let you know where they went to school as well. The former Crimson Tide players love to brag as well, letting their NFL teammates where they played in college.

The same can be said when losses occur. Nobody is going to keep the program more accountable than the guys who went through the struggles themselves. Against Texas A&M, nothing was different.

DeVonta Smith, Mark Ingram, and Marlon Humphrey were among some of the former players tweeting on Saturday night about loss. The common theme among them all was the lack of running the ball. Brian Robinson Jr. was having a fantastic day, but for some reason, the play calling was going against him.

Overall, the mood of the tweets was not a positive one. Alphonse Taylor said Texas A&M was not “anything special”, while Reggie Ragland said Alabama did not want to win.

Check out former Alabama players reacting to the Texas A&M loss

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Alabama outside of top four in USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Alabama takes hefty fall from the top in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

Waking up on Sunday and the nightmare is still real for Alabama fans. For the first time in 19 games, Nick Saban’s squad has lost, getting outplayed by Texas A&M on Saturday night, 41-38.

Plenty of streaks came to an end as well. A former assistant coach has finally beaten Saban, alongside Alabama’s 100 game winning streak against unranked opponents. Not the situation Crimson Tide fans are used to being in.

With the loss, the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll has dropped Alabama outside the coveted top four and to No. 5. Georgia has taken over the top spot, followed by Iowa, Oklahoma, Cincinnati.

Texas A&M shot back up in the rankings, going to No. 18. Florida is one spot ahead, claiming the title of the highest-ranked two-loss team in the poll.

Dropping out is Auburn and Texas, with both losing to out-of-state rivals.

Here is the full poll:

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Change
1	Georgia	6-0	1,624 (64)	+1
2	Iowa	6-0	1,537 (1)	+1
3	Oklahoma	6-0	1,452	+2
4	Cincinnati	5-0	1,418	+2
5	Alabama	5-1	1,363	-4
6	Ohio State	5-1	1,254	+1
7	Michigan	6-0	1,237	+1
8	Penn State	5-1	1,124	-4
9	Michigan State	6-0	1,064	+2
10	Oregon	4-1	1,004	+1
11	Kentucky	6-0	994	+3
12	Oklahoma State	5-0	910	–
13	Notre Dame	5-1	817	–
14	Ole Miss	4-1	741	+3
15	Coastal Carolina	6-0	708	–
16	Wake Forest	6-0	580	+4
17	Florida	4-2	543	+1
18	Texas A&M	4-2	396	+8
19	Arkansas	4-2	386	-3
20	BYU	5-1	342	-10
21	NC State	4-1	321	+1
22	Arizona State	5-1	294	+3
23	SMU	6-0	269	+1
24	San Diego State	5-0	156	+3
25	Clemson	3-2	155	-4

Dropped from the rankings:

No. 19 Auburn; No. 23 Texas.

Others receiving votes:

Auburn 98; Baylor 91; Texas 74; Pittsburgh 36; Texas-San Antonio 30; Mississippi State 18; Iowa State 18; Appalachian State 18; Boston College 11; Air Force 9; Tennessee 8; Liberty 8; Nevada 7; UL Lafayette 3; Houston 3; Fresno State 3; UCLA 1.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Griffin McVeigh on Twitter @Griffin_McVeigh.

Roll Tide Wire staff predictions for Alabama vs Texas A&M

Check out the Roll Tide Wire’s staff predictions for Texas A&M!

Alabama is once again heading east to the Lone Star state for a matchup against Texas A&M. A couple of months ago, this was seen as a lock for the biggest game of the weekend. Now, a blowout may be in store.

The Aggies’ offense has been struggling ever since starting quarterback Hayes King went down with an injury. Zack Calzada has not been the answering, only scoring 19 points a game over the last four. Alabama’s defense should have a day.

Even so, an electric atmosphere is going to be in store at Kyle Field. Back-to-back losses are not going to turn the Texas A&M faithful away from a night game against the No. 1 team in the country.

Nick Saban will have to have his players ready to roll for the ruckus crowd. Any kind of slow start could turn Saturday night into a more interesting matchup that many are prediciting.

Check out the Roll Tide Wire’s staff predictions!

Staff predicts the game

	Alabama (-17.5)	Record ATS	Winner	Record Overall
AJ Spurr	Alabama	2-0	Alabama	2-0
Griffin McVeigh	Alabama	2-0	Alabama	2-0
Stacey Blackwood	Alabama	1-1	Alabama	2-0
Layne Gerbig	Alabama	1-1	Alabama	2-0

AJ Spurr

Heading into last week’s contest against Ole Miss, everyone believed the Crimson Tide had a gauntlet of a stretch here in the middle of the regular season. However, the dominance of Nick Saban and his team, paired with the collapse of a few former top-10 teams, resulted in this likely being a break. Texas A&M showed promise in recent seasons, and were expected to be the one team in the SEC West to compete with Alabama. Maybe next year… but this year should be an easy win for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama 52, Texas A&M 17

Griffin McVeigh

For what was supposed to be the matchup of the season, Alabama is going to dominate this one from start to finish. Texas A&M’s quarterback play has been horrible, as has the offensive line. Will Anderson and company are going to have a field day, even if Drew Sanders is out. I’m confident once the Crimson Tide scores their third touchdown, the game will be over.

Alabama 56, Texas A&M 14

Stacey Blackwood

If you would have asked me a month ago for a score prediction on the Alabama vs. Texas A&M matchup, I would have most likely had a drastically different answer. But at the moment Texas A&M is reeling and Alabama is starting to roll. I believe Alabama will continue its punishing rushing attack, led by Brian Robinson Jr., and the defense will continue to show signs of improvement against an injured riddled Aggie’s offense.

Alabama 42, Texas A&M 13

Layne Gerbig

Alabama has dealt with a litany of injuries over the weeks to complicate things at the LB and RB positions. A true freshman should get the start to replace Drew Sanders on the edge, and Saban is scrambling to find an emergency RB to occupy Camar Wheaton’s spot while he recovers from a meniscus injury.

With that said, Texas A&M barely has an offense. Their OL is beat-down and inexperienced, and their fill-in at QB can’t seem to get a handle on things. Not to mention they’re missing two CBs on the defensive side of the ball. This game won’t be close.

Alabama 38, Texas A&M 10

You can watch Alabama and Texas A&M face off on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CDT on CBS.

All Betting Lines are courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.

Alabama to be without LB Drew Sanders for Texas A&M

Another injury blow for Alabama’s defense.

When Chris Allen went down with an injury, Nick Saban had to turn to youth at the fourth linebacker position. Sophomore Drew Sanders stepped in and was performing nicely.

Now, another replacement is going to be needed as Sanders is going to be missing some time thanks to an injury.

“He has a hand injury,” Saban said. “It required surgery. It was a little, maybe, worse than we thought. So he’s gonna be game-to-game for a few weeks, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Sanders was able to play against Ole Miss, recording five tackles and two quarterback hurries. He was spotted with a cast on Saturday, mainly around his right thumb.

Now, Alabama will be moving onto the third-string SAM. True freshman and former five-star Dallas Turner or redshirt freshman and former five-star Chris Braswell are expected to take over.

“They don’t have a lot of experience,” Saban said. “That’s two starters at the same position that we’ve lost. But Dallas Turner is a good young player, and he’s probably gonna get more opportunity, as well as Chris Braswell, at that position, and those guys have played some. But they’re obviously gonna get more opportunity now.”

Between Turner and Braswell, the two have combined for 12 tackles this season. They’ll be thrown into the ring at College Station, needing to perform in a big way for Alabama.

It’s easy to say “just throw the next five-star guy out there,” and on paper, this is true. But playing an underclassman who has little experience, even in practice, is a different ball game.

Both players will have to adapt quickly against Texas A&M’s offensive before Sanders is back in the lineup in a few weeks.

Alabama opens as massive favorites against Texas A&M

Another double-digit spread in favor of the Crimson Tide!

Outside of the traditional rivalries, Texas A&M was seen as Alabama’s biggest regular-season game of the season. A preseason top-six matchup, two elite defenses, and exciting young quarterbacks made up for plenty of storylines.

Now, the Aggies have crashed and burned, losing two straight to Arkansas and Mississippi State. The offense has stalled thanks to an early-season injury to starting quarterback Haynes King. Zack Calzada is not the answer for Jimbo Fisher.

Alabama held its end of the bargain, living up to the preseason No. 1 spot they were given by the AP poll. Blowouts against Miami and Ole Miss, plus a squeaker on the road vs Florida have

With the state of both teams, Alabama has opened as a massive 17.5 point favorite on Tipico Sportsbook. It will mark the sixth straight season where the Crimson Tide are favored by at least 17 points.

You can check out the full game odds here:

Line: Alabama -17.5

Over/Under: 51.5

Money Line: Alabama -1000 Texas A&M +600

All Betting Lines are Courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook

Even if the final result is a blowout (I know, I’m contributing to the rat poison), Kyle Field is going to be rocking before the 7 p.m. CDT kickoff. There are few stadiums with better atmospheres in college football.

Nick Saban will have to have Alabama ready to roll for the ruckus road crowd. You can watch the game on CBS this Saturday.

Visit our free to play game lobby at Daily Ticket, Powered by Tipico Sportsbook

How Alabama can take advantage of Texas A&M’s QB troubles

Poor quarterback play has held Texas A&M’s offense back.

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Without sounding too much like the Bo Nix meme that has been going around social media for months now, this was the year for Texas A&M at quarterback.

Haynes King was recruited by alleged quarterback whisperer Jimbo Fisher and developed for two seasons while sitting behind Kellen Mond. He beat out Zack Calzada for the starting job this season, being dubbed the guy to take the Aggies to the College Football Playoff. His ability as a dual-threat paired with two of the best running backs in the country and an elite defense had College Station hopeful.

Until a fractured ankle against Colorado has sidelined King with an at best mid-October return on the table.

If I told you the Texas A&M offense has been bad since then, it would come off as a compliment.

Calzada has taken over as the starting quarterback and led the Aggies to an average of 14 points/game (three games) against Power Five opponents. Two consecutive losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State have taken the CFP hype to “hopefully, they’ll make a bowl game.”

Outside of the lackluster scoring, some of Calzada’s advanced numbers are worrying. Only 10.1% of his throws have gone beyond 20 yards this season. Texas A&M has some talented skill position players and should have a more explosive passing game than Fisher has put on display so far.

Holding onto the ball too long has been an issue as well, averaging 3.1 seconds per dropback. Arkansas and Mississippi State each had three sacks over the past two weeks.

Blaming just the quarterback would be unfair, though. Texas A&M’s offensive line has allowed pressures 38.5% of dropbacks. The already weak unit lost starting offensive lineman Luke Matthews for the season as well. It’s far from up for the Aggies.

Thanks to Greg Tepper of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football for the numbers.

That's not only on Calzada, obviously — he's pressured on 38.5% of his dropbacks, second-most among Texas FBS QBs. He's also holding the ball for 3.1 seconds per dropback, the longest among Texas FBS QBs. So it's…kinda everything.

— Greg Tepper (@Tepper) October 4, 2021

From the Alabama perspective, this screams another Will Anderson masterclass. A struggling offensive line plus a quarterback holding onto the ball for too long while refusing to push the ball downfield. Nick Saban should attempt to get Anderson off preseason All-American Kenyon Green and watch him feast.

Any kind of delayed blitzes will confuse the young and inexperienced Aggie front as well. Malachi Moore, Christian Harris, and Henry To’oto’o should be candidates to end up with sacks alongside Anderson.

Even if the pass rush is not able to get home, we know Calzada is going to be afraid to take deep shots. Loading the box to stop the dangerous run game of Isaiah Spiller can become the defense’s main focus. The quarterback poses no threat.

Alabama blowing out Texas A&M is nothing new. Six of the last seven have been decided by at least 18 points, including a 28-point win last season. Ignoring the quarterback struggles is too difficult to believe any other result will occur at Kyle Flood.