Texas A&M football will roll into Tuscaloosa in search of a season-changing win, while Alabama will look to get back on track after two straight losses.
The Crimson White spoke with Ian Curtis, a senior enterprise reporter at The Battalion, the student newspaper at Texas A&M University since 1893, and broke down the Aggies’ disappointing start to 2026 ahead of the matchup.
FI: Alabama will battle two familiar faces in Isaiah Horton and Wilkin Formby on Saturday. What have they brought to Texas A&M’s offense this year?
IC: “Well, Isaiah Horton has been huge, but really, it’s almost [that] he’s been limited because of Marcel Reed’s woes. You lose KC Concepcion, you have [Mario] Craver coming back, A&M needs that reliable presence as a receiver. Isaiah Horton’s brought that, he’s been really successful. It’s just kind of when you can’t get a ball to him, it’s been a little disappointing for Aggie fans to kind of see what that looks like, you know? Now, Wilkin Formby has been very valuable. Just a veteran presence coming in on an O-line that’s seen a lot of turnover, seen a lot of injuries this season [and] position changes. So just to have the stability there, as someone who’s played in the SEC and really knows what he’s doing, especially with not just on the O-line, but so much turnover on the offense, I think has been very valuable.”
FI: You mentioned Marcel Reed’s woes. What do you think, other than the change at offensive coordinator, has been different for him this year and led to the struggles he’s had?
IC: “What’s been so surprising, I think not just for Aggie fans but the A&M beat and the A&M coaching staff, has been how much of it seems mental. After the Kentucky game, he spoke to the media and coach [Mike] Elko compared it to a pitcher who can’t throw strikes and just his inability to hit simple, short checkdown routes and stuff like that. It was an analogy that Marcell agreed with postgame. He’s always had struggles in certain areas, like an inability to sometimes hit the deep ball and that sort of thing. So I don’t think anyone was expecting him to come into the year after last season and go out and win the Heisman or be an All-American, but to see the regression in certain areas where, sure, you’ve got different changes at receiver and O-line, but when you’ve got games like Missouri, like Kentucky, where you’re going out there and struggling to hit a seven-yard pass, that at some point has to be on the quarterback. I think the regression in simple areas has been surprising. Now, I think the changes on the O-line haven’t helped. Changes with Colin Klein gone, that hasn’t helped at offensive coordinator. So it’s not just Marcel Reed, but that has been probably the single biggest change: his mental struggles and his regression, and I think that sent a lot of other things into a tailspin.”
FI: Alabama’s offensive line has given up over 20 sacks through seven games. How much pressure could this Aggies defense generate on Keelon Russell on Saturday?
IC: “I think A&M’s defense has almost been overlooked in how good they are, just because of games like Missouri, where you hold a Missouri offense out of the end zone for almost a half, and then you have your offense that just keeps giving them possessions over and over and over again. And eventually the scoreline’s not going to look good, right? But, statistically, it’s the fourth-best defense in terms of average points per game in the conference. It’s one of those things where the secondary has been much improved. I think the defensive line, while still there and still able to provide pressure, you haven’t really replaced Cassius Howell super well in terms of the guy who’s gonna go get in there, get the quarterback [and] get sacks. But just as a unit, this is a defense that has kind of slipped under the radar. But even still, I think when you’re coming off last year and that unit was so good, especially the defensive line was so good … A&M has always had that reputation for defensive line play and really solid defensive numbers. So I think while it has maybe slipped a little bit, it’s still a unit that can go in there [and] can create pressure. It has maybe slipped under the radar given just how poorly the offense’s played.”
FI: What are your keys to the game, and can you give us a score prediction?
IC: “Key to the game on offense, at least for A&M, is can you establish the run game? While you’ve seen the passing game really slip with Reed, and you’ve got banged-up receivers, with Mario Craver getting just banged up throughout the year. [He] missed the Citadel game and [coach] Elko was just giving him time to recover. KJ Edwards has really impressed, as has Jamarion Morrow, now that he’s back from an injury he suffered. And you look at the Arkansas game, which was A&M’s most complete effort by far, and it was immediately being able to get those, get KJ, get the running backs established, and then only being able to rely on the passing game just to supplement that. So, it’s: can A&M establish the running game, or can Bama stop the run? And then the other thing to watch out for that, [while] it may not save you a game, is special teams. A&M’s got a fantastic punt unit. David Olano was named a midseason All-American at kicker. So if A&M can kind of scrape and fight and claw its way to something, those are a couple units that could potentially push it over the edge. But in general, I think A&M fans, they’ve already hit DEFCON 5. This season is a wash for a lot of people, and I think going into Tuscaloosa, [at the] beginning of the year, they circled this one as like, ‘Oh, wow, this is going to be huge,’ and now … the fan base kind of is thinking they’ve got nothing to lose. So it’ll be interesting to see what the team’s mentality is, and if they can muster something going in there, just kind of if they can play that way. But I think this one, I don’t think A&M will look super uncompetitive score-wise, as a lot of people have feared, but I think I could see this one being something that starts close, defense keeps them in it early, just like Missouri. And then I think Bama eventually, especially mentally after the back-to-back losses, they’re going to pull this one out. So I’ll go [with a] score prediction [of] 35-13 Alabama.”
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