Coming into Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, the 7th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide’s position was precarious, at best.
Playoff contention had been preserved by a fingertip interception against Arkansas. Columns and radio shows declared the end of the Saban dynasty. The press and pundits had anointed the state of Mississippi as the rightful heirs to the college football throne, and the Capital One Bowl seemed a more likely target than the inaugural College Football Playoff.
After Saturday’s 59-0 evisceration of the No. 21 Aggies, Alabama has started to reverse those worries, return to championship contention and re-establish its position as one of the most fearsome teams in college football. Saturday’s shutout win marked Alabama’s largest margin of victory since Sept. 29, 1979, when the Crimson Tide beat Vanderbilt 66-3. Alabama went on to win the consensus national championship that season.
“I was really proud of the way our players played today,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think this is as close to the Alabama football that we want to try to get from our players in terms of effort, toughness, emotional excitement and execution that we got throughout the game. Our approach to this game was that we wanted to find what exactly every position and player has to do and see if you can go out there and dominate your box and do your job.”
The Crimson Tide’s opening drive stalled on the Texas A&M 4-yard-line after Aggie defensive back Deshazor Everett dropped an interception that he likely would have been able to return for a touchdown. Alabama was forced to settle for a 21-yard field goal, going up 3-0 with 11:07 remaining in the 1st. For all intents and purposes, it was the last time something would go wrong for the Crimson Tide.
The Alabama defense forced Texas A&M’s offense off the field after three plays on the next drive, sacking quarterback Kenny Hill in the process. It was the first of six sacks for the Crimson Tide and the first of 10 three-and-outs for the Aggies. All told, Alabama held Texas A&M to 172 yards of offense, forced nine punts, and recorded nine tackles for loss.
“I felt it from the jump, as soon as we came onto the field,” cornerback Cyrus Jones said. “I could just feel the swagger we had on defense. We were just confident and knew the gameplan. When you know the gameplan as well as we did, it’s easy to go out there and play fast.”
Alabama conceded only 141 yards through the air – less than half of Texas A&M’s average before Saturday’s blowout – an important step forward for a unit that had been much-maligned this season.
“Just coming into it, I felt like the whole secondary thought we were really prepared from the game from the start,” Jones said. “We had a good week of practice and we knew what they were going to do so it was just a matter of going out and executing.”
Alabama’s defensive dominance resulted in 36 minutes of possession spread out over 13 drives – most of which it converted into touchdowns. Alabama recorded seven consecutive touchdowns before it recorded its first punt with 6:47 left in the third quarter. The team was balanced in its attack, recording 298 yards and four touchdowns on the ground and 304 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Six players scored for the Crimson Tide.
“As an offense, we practiced hard, and we had one motto: be better than we were last week,” Sims said. “That’s something that happened for us. As a team, we listened to our leaders. Our leaders are starting to be more outspoken and we also listened to coach Saban.”
Junior running back T.J Yeldon lead Alabama’s stable of rushers with 114 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. His 30 career touchdowns leave him tied with former Alabama running back Eddie Lacy for 6th most in school history.
“T.J’s always going to go out there and play hard,” said running back Derrick Henry, who accounted for 70 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own. “He’s a great running back, he’s a leader of this team. Everything he does is not a surprise for us.”
For all 60 minutes on Saturday, Alabama dominated every facet of play, controlling the line of scrimmage, time of possession, turnover ratio, and most importantly, the final score. It’s the kind of performance Saban and the players have long said the team is capable of.
“Us playing as a whole, as a team, defense, offense and special teams – that’s something that coach preaches about,” Henry said. “For us to be able to play Alabama football, to be able to dominate, we’ve got to dominate on all three teams: offense, defense and special teams. That’s the thing that I was most proud of.”
