Alabama’s offense accumulated 568 total yards and seven touchdowns Saturday at Kyle Field, but it was quarterback AJ McCarron’s mistake-free afternoon that ultimately pushed the Crimson Tide to a 49-42 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies.
McCarron completed 20 of his 29 passes for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns, finding 10 different receivers in the process.
His performance gave Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder a headache and will no doubt force him back to the film room with a bottle of aspirin.
“I think AJ McCarron played lights out today,” Snyder said. “He has played a lot of football, and he has a lot of weapons out there.”
McCarron connected with four different receivers in each of his touchdown throws, and three of the scoring plays were longer than 20 yards.
But it wasn’t just McCarron’s ability to punish the Aggies through the air that had his coaches and teammates smiling. It was his management of the game at the line of scrimmage that separated him from Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel Saturday.
Center Ryan Kelly said McCarron took control of the offense and even chose the pass play to Jalston Fowler with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“All game AJ kept his composure,” Kelly said. “He’s a great leader, obviously, since this is his fifth year, so you wouldn’t think of anything less. He just showed his resiliency as a quarterback and as a team leader.”
But McCarron wanted none of the praise being thrown his way. He was adamant about exalting the rest of the team for the crucial win over Texas A&M.
“All of the credit goes to my teammates,” he said. “The offensive line played great against the pass rush. The receivers did an unbelievable job of getting open, making big-time catches, yards after the catch. They deserve all the credit. They make my job easy. I’ve just got to throw it to them.”
After an impressive performance against a quality SEC opponent, McCarron found himself back in the Heisman Trophy discussion.
However, he said he is more focused on winning football games than getting caught up in postseason award talk.
“I don’t worry about that. My job’s to come out here and play football,” McCarron said. “That’s all I want to do. That’s all I’ve worked on since I was 4 years old. I don’t care about awards or notoriety. I don’t care about that. This was a team win.”
If McCarron ends up in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation, the highlights of a successful senior season will begin with this game.
After starting out sluggish in Alabama’s first game against Virginia Tech, McCarron seems to have gotten things worked out with his offensive line and receivers.
Wide receiver Kenny Bell said McCarron is dangerous now that he has made sure everyone’s heads are on straight.
“He played like AJ McCarron usually does. He got in his groove,” Bell said. “The sky’s the limit.”
