With 1:43 remaining in the third quarter, the Texas A&M Aggies, a 13.5-point underdog, led the Alabama Crimson Tide 20-17 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Facing a fourth-and-1, Texas A&M decided to go for it at their own 45-yard line.
Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed fumbled the snap on the play, and Alabama linebacker QB Reese recovered the football, giving Alabama the ball back inside Texas A&M territory.
Before this play occurred, Texas A&M had outgained the Crimson Tide 274 to 212 in total yardage.
Texas A&M also had three scoring drives of at least ten plays, with the first of these being a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that preceded two interceptions thrown by Marcel Reed on Texas A&M’s first two drives, with the first interception being returned by Alabama’s Dijon Lee Jr. for a 39-yard pick-six. Facing a third-and-10 on their own 20-yard line, Texas A&M caught a huge break after pass interference was called on Dijon Lee Jr., and this penalty set the Aggies’ first scoring drive into motion.
After a 47-yard field goal from Conor Talty put the Crimson Tide ahead 10-7, Texas A&M responded with another long touchdown drive, this one lasting 11 plays for 75 yards and ending in a four-yard touchdown scramble from Marcel Reed to put the Aggies in front 14-10.
After the two teams went into halftime tied at 17, Texas A&M opened up the third quarter with a 13-play, 68-yard drive resulting in a 25-yard field goal from David Olano. The Aggies benefited from another mistake made by Alabama’s defense after an offside penalty was called on Alabama’s Chuck McDonald III on a third-and-4 at Texas A&M’s 41-yard line.
Alabama also had a total of ten players out of Saturday’s game, including defensive backs Zabien Brown, who suffered a lower-extremity injury against Tennessee and missed his first-ever game with Alabama against the Aggies, and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr,, who was suspended before Saturday’s game due to a violation of team rules.
On the offensive side of the ball, Alabama struggled to efficiently move the ball down the field. Up to the 1:43 mark in the third quarter, Alabama only had two drives that lasted longer than five plays: the first of which was a seven-play, 46-yard drive ending in the aforementioned Conor Talty 47-yard field goal; the second of these drives was an eight-play, 74-yard drive ending in a three-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Hill to put Alabama ahead 17-14 in the second quarter.
With the Tide’s lack of consistency on offense and the defense continuously allowing extended drives, the Aggies looked as if they were on their way to an upset, which would have given Alabama its third consecutive loss. Alabama has not lost three straight games since November 2007, when Alabama lost four Saturdays in a row.
But the defense was able to jump on the fumbled snap on fourth-and-one, putting all of the momentum back in Alabama’s favor.
Four plays later, Keelon Russell found Marshall Pritchett in the back of the end zone to put the Crimson Tide on top. The extra point from Conor Talty made the score 24-20 with 14:55 remaining in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing drive for the Aggies, Marcel Reed tripped for a 10-yard loss on second-and-9 after Alabama rushed five. After a 10-yard catch by Mario Craver on third-and-19, the Aggies had to punt the ball back to the Crimson Tide.
Five plays later, Alabama found the end zone again on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Russell to Kaleb Edwards, and a Conor Talty extra point put Alabama up 31-20 with 10:01 remaining.
Alabama’s defense continued to feed into its momentum on the ensuing Texas A&M drive that only lasted three plays and included a seven-yard sack by defensive lineman Fatutoa Henry on third-and-3.
After an exchange of punts, Alabama was able to run out the rest of the clock and walk out of Homecoming with a 31-20 win.
After the fumbled snap on fourth-and-one, Alabama’s defense only allowed the Aggies to gain five yards on their last three drives of the game, and they played with a focus and intensity that was not there for the second and third quarters. This momentum from the defense was carried over to the offense, as the Crimson Tide gained 167 yards in the final 16:43 of game time.
“We really felt like it was going to be a four-quarter game,” said head coach Kalen DeBoer following the win. “We needed to continue to stay the course and just keep applying pressure, continue to play hard [and] play our game.”
Alabama now enters a much needed bye-week at 6-2 before it travels to Baton Rouge to take on the No. 15 LSU Tigers. Alabama must reset and refocus if it wants to take down the Tigers and preserve its playoff chances.
“We can’t sit back and just think that things are going to go well,” said defensive back Bray Hubbard. “We’ve got to go make it happen.”
Alabama and LSU will kick off on Nov. 7 from Tiger Stadium, with the kickoff time and channel location to be announced on Monday.
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