How will Alabama perform defensively against an embattled Texas A&M offense?
The Alabama defense is beginning to gel at the perfect time as we approach the middle of the season. After the first few weeks getting “tin-horned”, it was refreshing to see the defense perform the way it did in Saturday’s win against a potent Ole Miss offense.
Another SEC West matchup is on the horizon as the Crimson Tide will travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M on Saturday. Texas A&M is a good team that’s fallen very hard on its luck, but will likely fall even harder this weekend.
The Aggies QB situation is in disarray. Redshirt-freshman Haynes King was touted as the golden goose of Aggieland, with A&M fans predicting that he could lead them to the promised land of the CFP.
And then came a fractured ankle injury against Colorado, from which he isn’t slated to return from until somewhere around the middle of October.
So who’s holding the reigns now at QB for Texas A&M?
None other than the man that King beat out, Zach Calzada. Needless to say, it’s not looking good for Texas A&M at this point at the QB position. Not all of the Aggies’ offensive shortcomings are the fault of Calzada, however. He is operating behind a makeshift offensive line that features two true-freshmen due to injuries and four newcomers with no experience starting in the SEC.
However, Calzada is not immune to criticism. When he does have time he has shown to be impatient. He takes no time on his reads and acts on impulse. This wanton nature has led to four interceptions while only finding the endzone for five passing TDs. He is not an accurate passes in any sense of the term.
Unfortunately for Texas A&M, his 60% completion percentage against Miss. State was his season-high. Not a good number by any stretch of the imagination.
Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher says that Calzada continues to improve, exhibiting great faith in his reshirt-sophomore QB who was beat out in the preseason by his younger peer.
At WR, Aggie QBs’ favorite this season has been junior slot-receiver Ainias Smith, who has caught 20 passes for 200 yards and two TDs.
The Aggies’ primary read on passing downs has been Chase Lane, who led the team in yards per catch last season. He’s brought down just nine catches for 104 yards this year.
Jalen Wydermyer at TE has proven to be an effective option on passing-downs. He’s gather 15 receptions for 176 yards and a touchdown.
Caleb Chapman and Demond Demas are Calzada’s other options at receiver. They haven’t shown themselves to be elite receivers, as of yet, and it’s hard to imagine that any Aggie WR will have a breakout performance against an experienced Tide secondary.
The one solid piece that Texas A&M does have offensively is Isaiah Spiller, the 21st Aggie to rush for 2,000 career yards. Spiller has rushed for 445 yards on 78 attempts on the year, averaging 6.8 YPC. He’s hit the endzone twíce on the season. But he won’t be much of a factor if Fisher doesn’t make him a huge part of his game plan on Saturday.
Even if Fisher does play to the Alabama defense’s weakness – the run game – the Texas A&M offensive line likely won’t get a lick of push.
The Aggies O-line plays with nearly no continuity. Based on what I’ve seen, they’re generally not moving as one cohesive unit. Too often have they been pushed around this season against seemingly inferior talent.
The Aggie defense may be the only saving grace Texas A&M can hope for in this game against the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide, and even then, you’ve got to be able to score points to win a football game, and I don’t think they’ll muster up more than two touchdowns.
Catch the game between Alabama and Texas A&M on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT on CBS.
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