Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist
Just over a year ago, all anyone could talk about was the Alabama-Texas A&M game. It was the highlight, not just of September 2013, but of the entire season's schedule.
It was Johnny Football against the defending national champions, David trying to knock off Nick Saban's Goliath for a second straight season. While it didn't quite measure up to all the expectations - Alabama-Auburn ended up being the game of the year, and settling the SEC Championship - it was an entertaining, back-and-forth contest.
It also simultaneously confirmed and contradicted the concept that Alabama "couldn't stop a no-huddle team." Alabama didn't stop A&M, although whether that was due to the Aggies' offensive scheme or the individual talents of Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans is an open question. But the Crimson Tide did do enough work to win.
The atmosphere going into Saturday's game between the Crimson Tide and the Aggies is markedly different. Early this September, with A&M logging a blowout win over South Carolina and Alabama dominating Florida, it looked like this would be a top five matchup again.
The past two weeks have changed that, dramatically. There is still anticipation for the matchup, but it is the nervous kind. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "dread" - I'd reserve that word for the outbreak of a deadly disease, or Paul Finebaum saying "Now let's go to the phones." But it is definitely apprehension.
For the past two weeks, Texas A&M has been pummeled by the two Mississippi schools in the SEC West. A week before that, the Aggies needed an overtime to beat Arkansas.
Defensive concerns that have plagued the Aggies for years have popped up again, despite concerted recruiting efforts on that side of the ball. Nick Saban said Wednesday the Aggies were "much improved" on defense - that could be true and still mean the Aggies have issues.
But the bigger concern in Saban's mind is Alabama reclaiming its run-game identity. That's important, because the longer Alabama's offense stays on the field, the less the Crimson Tide has to find ways to stop the Aggies. A 10-minute deficit in time of possession like the one that plagued Alabama last week at Arkansas would probably mean a loss.
On the other hand, if A&M can't work out its own issues, a 2014 season that started with high hopes could end as a crashing disappointment. And neither team is playing well enough to be absolutely certain that this is the turning point.
That's one of the things that is causing concern among Alabama fans. Concern is a legitimate reaction, and different from "complaining about a win."
All of Alabama's goals for this season remain intact despite the loss at Ole Miss (someone would have to beat the Rebels in order to help out), but remaining dreams would sink like the Titanic if the Crimson Tide runs into another iceberg.
Texas A&M's playoff hopes are probably underwater already, but that won't stop them from smashing someone else's, if they can. And if Alabama can't field punts, can't stop egregious penalties and, especially, can't run the ball, that will happen on Saturday.
That isn't negative, just realistic. This year's Alabama-Texas A&M game has little of last year's hype, but in some ways that will resonate over the rest of the season, and possibly beyond, it might be more important.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1693694
TideSports.com Columnist
Just over a year ago, all anyone could talk about was the Alabama-Texas A&M game. It was the highlight, not just of September 2013, but of the entire season's schedule.
It was Johnny Football against the defending national champions, David trying to knock off Nick Saban's Goliath for a second straight season. While it didn't quite measure up to all the expectations - Alabama-Auburn ended up being the game of the year, and settling the SEC Championship - it was an entertaining, back-and-forth contest.
It also simultaneously confirmed and contradicted the concept that Alabama "couldn't stop a no-huddle team." Alabama didn't stop A&M, although whether that was due to the Aggies' offensive scheme or the individual talents of Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans is an open question. But the Crimson Tide did do enough work to win.
The atmosphere going into Saturday's game between the Crimson Tide and the Aggies is markedly different. Early this September, with A&M logging a blowout win over South Carolina and Alabama dominating Florida, it looked like this would be a top five matchup again.
The past two weeks have changed that, dramatically. There is still anticipation for the matchup, but it is the nervous kind. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "dread" - I'd reserve that word for the outbreak of a deadly disease, or Paul Finebaum saying "Now let's go to the phones." But it is definitely apprehension.
For the past two weeks, Texas A&M has been pummeled by the two Mississippi schools in the SEC West. A week before that, the Aggies needed an overtime to beat Arkansas.
Defensive concerns that have plagued the Aggies for years have popped up again, despite concerted recruiting efforts on that side of the ball. Nick Saban said Wednesday the Aggies were "much improved" on defense - that could be true and still mean the Aggies have issues.
But the bigger concern in Saban's mind is Alabama reclaiming its run-game identity. That's important, because the longer Alabama's offense stays on the field, the less the Crimson Tide has to find ways to stop the Aggies. A 10-minute deficit in time of possession like the one that plagued Alabama last week at Arkansas would probably mean a loss.
On the other hand, if A&M can't work out its own issues, a 2014 season that started with high hopes could end as a crashing disappointment. And neither team is playing well enough to be absolutely certain that this is the turning point.
That's one of the things that is causing concern among Alabama fans. Concern is a legitimate reaction, and different from "complaining about a win."
All of Alabama's goals for this season remain intact despite the loss at Ole Miss (someone would have to beat the Rebels in order to help out), but remaining dreams would sink like the Titanic if the Crimson Tide runs into another iceberg.
Texas A&M's playoff hopes are probably underwater already, but that won't stop them from smashing someone else's, if they can. And if Alabama can't field punts, can't stop egregious penalties and, especially, can't run the ball, that will happen on Saturday.
That isn't negative, just realistic. This year's Alabama-Texas A&M game has little of last year's hype, but in some ways that will resonate over the rest of the season, and possibly beyond, it might be more important.
https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1693694
