TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jonathan Allen returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to help No. 1 Alabama beat sixth-ranked Texas A&M 33-14 Saturday.
The Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC) moved on as the powerhouse league’s last unbeaten team, getting yet another in a long string of defensive scores. Allen, a lineman, scooped up the ball after Ryan Anderson knocked it loose from Keith Ford to finally build a cushion over the Aggies (6-1, 4-1), who led 14-13 well into the third.
It was 20-14 when Allen extended Alabama’s streak to 10 games with a score on defense or special teams, half the duration of a winning streak now at 20 going into an open date.
Alabama’s freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts then galloped 37 yards for another score, stepping out of a defender’s grasp and making a nifty move to get past another. The Tide was rolling again, a powerful encore to easy wins over ranked Tennessee and Arkansas teams.
The Aggies seemed likely to put up the biggest fight, with a defense that kept the pressure on Hurts and a handful of big runs by quarterback Trevor Knight. Then Allen and Anderson changed that in an instant.
The Tide defense sustained a big loss when safety Eddie Jackson was injured on a late punt return. Coach Nick Saban said Jackson, a senior, is out for the season with a broken leg.
Alabama racked up five sacks of Knight, who had engineered Oklahoma’s Sugar Bowl upset of Alabama as a redshirt freshman with a 348-yard, four-touchdown performance. He passed for 164 and ran for 24 in the semi-rematch.
Hurts passed for 166 yards and rushed for 93 more, throwing for a pair of touchdowns while getting intercepted twice. Damien Harris rushed 17 times for 126 yards.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics