Credit to Rachel Perreault | Director, Athletics Communications – 12thman.com
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M football team succumbed to an Alabama second-half surge in a 26-20 loss to the Crimson Tide Saturday at Kyle Field.
The Crimson Tide scored the first 16 points coming out of the intermission to erase Texas A&M’s 17-10 halftime lead as the Maroon & White were unable to take advantage of two second-half Alabama turnovers.
Two plays after the Aggies’ Bryce Anderson intercepted a Jalen Milroe pass and returned it 15 yards to the A&M 35-yard line, the Crimson Tide’s Caleb Downs picked off a Max Johnson pass at the Aggies’ 37-yard line.
Alabama followed with a six-play scoring drive capped off by a 15-yard aerial from Milroe to Jermaine Burton to tie the game 17-17 midway through the third quarter.
The Crimson Tide scored on its next possession with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Burton, staking claim to a 24-17 advantage with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Texas A&M’s Demani Richardson forced a fumble and Anderson recovered it at the Alabama 29-yard line with 11:09 remaining in the game. The Aggies were only able to cobble 5 yards on the drive and Randy Bond’s 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Chris Braswell.
The Crimson Tide lead stretched to nine points when Johnson was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety with 5:55 on the clock.
Texas A&M appeared to hit paydirt twice on its final drive of the game, but both were called back – one due to video review and one with a holding call. Johnson hit Ainias Smith in the left flat and Smith broke through two tackles and outran a defender down the left sideline, but was deemed to have stepped out at the 2-yard line. Two plays later Le’Veon Moss rushed around the left end into the end zone from 2 yards out, but a holding call negated the score. The Aggies settled for a 20-yard field goal by Bond to trim the margin to 26-20 with 2:11 remaining.
Texas A&M was unable to recover the onside kick and Alabama converted a 3rd-and-7 to run out the clock.
The Aggie defense had another huge sack performance, recording 6.0 on the day. Edgerrin Cooper led the attack, logging 11 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 3.0 TFL and a forced fumble. Fadil Diggs added a pair of sacks.
The combatants traded field goals in a defensive-minded first quarter. The Aggies’ second possession of the game stalled out at the Alabama 5-yard line after traveling 49 yards on seven plays and Bond capped it with a 22-yard field goal. The Crimson Tide answered immediately with a 39-yard field goal by Will Reichard following a 49-yard drive, knotting the score at 3-3 with 1:56 remaining in the quarter.
Alabama grabbed the momentum on the first play of the second quarter when Milroe hit Isaiah Bond over the top down the middle for a 52-yard touchdown pass for a 10-3 advantage.
After the Aggies punted on their next drive, the Maroon & White defense and special teams provided a spark. A Diggs sack for an 8-yard loss on 3rd-and-8 forced an Alabama punt.
Smith weaved through the Crimson Tide punt unit for a 46-yard return down to the Alabama 22-yard. On the next play, Johnson hit his brother Jake Johnson for a touchdown strike to tie the score with 9:57 left in the half.
Two Milroe incomplete passes, a false start and a 7-yard sack by Diggs forced another punt by the Crimson Tide and Ol’ Sarge’s charges took control at their own 47-yard line. A defensive pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-8 and an 18-yard pass from Johnson to Moose Muhammad III on 3rd-and-10 keyed an 11-play, 53-yard touchdown drive. Moss finished it off with a 1-yard run and the Aggies lugged a 17-10 lead into the locker room.
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Texas A&M Football Post Game Notes
No. 11 Alabama 26, Texas A&M 20
Kyle Field (Bryan-College Station, Texas)
Team Notes
- The Aggie defense tallied 6.0 sacks on the day, marking the first time in program history A&M has strung together three-straight games with at least 5.0 sacks, after posting 7.0 in each of its first SEC games.
- Texas A&M held Alabama to just 23 rushing yards on the day, marking the fourth time this season the Aggies have kept their opponent in double-digits on the ground.
- Attendance for the game was 108,101, which ranks as the third-largest crowd in the history of Kyle Field.
- Today’s captains against Alabama were OL Layden Robinson, DL McKinnley Jackson, DB Demani Richardson and WR Ainias Smith.
Individual Notes
- Graduate WR Ainias Smith surpassed the 2,000 career receiving yards mark with his 88 yards against Alabama. His current career mark of 2,043 is the eighth most in program history.
- Smith is the only player in SEC history to rack up over 2,000 career receiving yards, while also tallying at least 250 rushing (389), punt return (814) and kick return (275) yards.
- Adding four catches on the day moved Smith into sixth all-time at A&M as he upped his career total to 153, while his 137 all-purpose yards put him at 3,521 for his career, good for 13th in the A&M career record book.
- Smith extended his games with a reception streak to 33 consecutive games, which ranks as the 10th longest streak in the nation and the longest for the Aggies since Christian Kirk (2015-17) had a catch in 39 straight games.
- Between his time at LSU and Texas A&M, sophomore QB Max Johnson became the ninth player in SEC history to hit the 5,000 career passing yards mark, upping his career total to 5,075 with 239 yards through the air against Alabama.
- Junior LB Edgerrin Cooper led the defense with 11 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble. This marked the third double-digit tackles game of his career and the third straight game he has had at least 2.0 TFL, fourth this season.
- Junior DL Fadil Diggs set a season high with five tackles, including a career-best 2.0 sacks for 15 yards lost.
- Sophomore DL Walter Nolen as recorded a sack in all three SEC outings this season, taking down the quarterback for a loss of 3 yards Saturday.
- Sophomore DB Bryce Anderson recorded the first interception of his career, picking off Alabama and returning the ball 15 yards, also adding a big fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.