Alabama Rallies Past Texas A&M 31-20 After Q4 Deficit
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- K-pop
- College Football
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Texas Am
Alabama overcame a fourth-quarter deficit, scoring two Keelon Russell touchdowns to beat Texas A&M 31-20 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama clears its tightrope with a fourth-quarter comeback
Alabama, a team the Tuscaloosa News describes as walking a tightrope after ranked losses to Georgia and Tennessee, survived its homecoming date with unranked Texas A&M, 31-20, at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 24.
According to the Tuscaloosa News, the Crimson Tide trailed into the fourth quarter, and Keelon Russell overcame what the outlet calls abundant struggles, finding Marshall Pritchett for a 3-yard score on the quarter's very first play to give Alabama a lead it would not lose.
Texas A&M Athletics confirms the arc of the afternoon: the Aggies led 20-17 after David Olano's 25-yard field goal in the third, only for Russell to hit Pritchett and then Kaleb Edwards on an 8-yard scoring pass with 10:06 to play.
The game was a back-and-forth battle, per Texas A&M Athletics, tied 17-17 at halftime.
Why the rally matters for the Crimson Tide's season
The stakes were explicit in the Tuscaloosa News' framing: ranked losses to Georgia and Tennessee had put Alabama's postseason life in jeopardy, and a loss to the unranked Aggies would, in the outlet's words, seem to cement the Crimson Tide's fate and erase the tightrope entirely.
Instead, Alabama improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in SEC play, per the Tuscaloosa News, and now gets an idle week before a ranked road date against LSU on Saturday, Nov. 7 — a bout the outlet calls a legitimate challenge to the College Football Playoff hopes.
Texas A&M Athletics, for its part, reports the Aggies fall to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play, with coach Mike Elko telling postgame interviews the team has to get a lot better and play November with pride.
The evidence: turnovers, stats and standouts
The Tuscaloosa News reports Alabama's defense forced two Marcel Reed turnovers, including a 39-yard pick-6 by Dijon Lee Jr. on the game's opening possession and a Chuck McDonald interception, and also recovered a Reed fumble on a fourth-and-1 try at midfield.
Texas A&M Athletics says Reed finished with 163 passing yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, plus a rushing score, while KJ Edwards ran for 43 yards and Mario Craver caught six passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Per Texas A&M Athletics, linebacker Daymion Sanford posted a season-high eight tackles, and kicker David Olano is now 13-for-13 this season — which the athletics site says is the first such start by a Texas A&M kicker since at least 1986.
The Tuscaloosa News notes Conor Talty missed two field goals in the loss-filled kicking day for Alabama.
What comes next for both programs
Both teams now head into byes with very different moods. The Tuscaloosa News reports Alabama goes into its idle week before the Nov.
7 trip to LSU, a game that will decide whether the tightrope walk continues toward the playoff conversation. Texas A&M Athletics says the Aggies also get a bye week before visiting South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday, Nov.
7, with kickoff time and television information still to be announced.
The postgame sound reflects the gap between the two: Texas A&M Athletics quotes Marcel Reed saying he knew what he was capable of and had to bounce back from the turnovers, and Daymion Sanford saying the Aggies started hot but have to finish, starting in practice.
The Tuscaloosa News also notes Alabama played a depleted secondary after Red Morgan's targeting disqualification and a suspension for Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. for a violation of team rules.