The Aggies are actually dominating this football game. It shouldn't be even close, really.
Offensively, they're doing pretty well through the air. Max is 8-14 for 151 yards and a touchdown, and he's stood in and taken some shots to get the ball out. He was running with those in the first quarter, but as he's calmed down, he's seeing things a lot better.
We've been waiting for the Moose Muhammad breakout and today is the day. He's got two catches for 49 yards, but he's just been a beast in the open field. He had a huge 18-yard catch on 3rd in 10 where Max faced the blitz, hit Moose perfectly as he cut in and the field was wide open.
A&M's touchdown pass was a great play call. They rolled Max to his non-throwing side to get Jake time to cross the entire field, and Malachi Moore completely whiffed on it. It was a one read play and the read was wide open. Ainias and Evan Stewart are doing their thing as well, and the fact that Stewart's doing what he's doing with a bum ankle is remarkable.
A&M is averaging 19 yards a throw, with three completions over 30 yards already. The pass rush has largely been handled, even if it hasn't been perfect. The running game, on the other hand, has been crap. The Aggies have 52 yards and are averaging just 2.6 yards a carry. These slow-developing runs to the outside are a waste of time against this fast defense. They need to get Moss going north-south and pound it out.
Defensively, A&M has to do something with the deep ball. Alabama's entire game plan is find 28, throw at 28. I think they've gone at Tyreek Chappell once. Jermaine Burton has 5 catches for 106 yards already. To be fair, DeBerry did not give up the touchdown pass; that was just a massive F-up by the safeties, who didn't go with Bond when he went deep. All Milroe can do is throw deep. He's 8-14 for 161 yards.
In terms of the running game or the pass rush, Alabama's in serious trouble. The Tide has -13 yards rushing on 10 carries, and Milroe has been sacked four times. Fadil Diggs is just beating the living hell out of JC Latham AGAIN, like he did last year. He's been almost unblockable. When the Aggies bring pressure, they're forcing quick throws or they're getting sacks. Alabama can't run the ball at all. Their long carry is 6 yards.
Special teams and the crowd have played big parts in this. Ainias having that 46-yard return immediately became a touchdown, and Alabama has 5 false starts.
This game is not over by a long shot, but Alabama is in real trouble IF A&M can figure out how to limit the damage from the deep ball. Right now, that is their entire offense. And when the Aggies get pressure, which is frequent, Milroe gets frazzled.
If A&M can get a stop here to start the third quarter and go down and score, that may be the ballgame. The Aggies have dominated the third quarter of the last two games, so if that trend continues, they've got a great shot at winning this game.
Offensively, they're doing pretty well through the air. Max is 8-14 for 151 yards and a touchdown, and he's stood in and taken some shots to get the ball out. He was running with those in the first quarter, but as he's calmed down, he's seeing things a lot better.
We've been waiting for the Moose Muhammad breakout and today is the day. He's got two catches for 49 yards, but he's just been a beast in the open field. He had a huge 18-yard catch on 3rd in 10 where Max faced the blitz, hit Moose perfectly as he cut in and the field was wide open.
A&M's touchdown pass was a great play call. They rolled Max to his non-throwing side to get Jake time to cross the entire field, and Malachi Moore completely whiffed on it. It was a one read play and the read was wide open. Ainias and Evan Stewart are doing their thing as well, and the fact that Stewart's doing what he's doing with a bum ankle is remarkable.
A&M is averaging 19 yards a throw, with three completions over 30 yards already. The pass rush has largely been handled, even if it hasn't been perfect. The running game, on the other hand, has been crap. The Aggies have 52 yards and are averaging just 2.6 yards a carry. These slow-developing runs to the outside are a waste of time against this fast defense. They need to get Moss going north-south and pound it out.
Defensively, A&M has to do something with the deep ball. Alabama's entire game plan is find 28, throw at 28. I think they've gone at Tyreek Chappell once. Jermaine Burton has 5 catches for 106 yards already. To be fair, DeBerry did not give up the touchdown pass; that was just a massive F-up by the safeties, who didn't go with Bond when he went deep. All Milroe can do is throw deep. He's 8-14 for 161 yards.
In terms of the running game or the pass rush, Alabama's in serious trouble. The Tide has -13 yards rushing on 10 carries, and Milroe has been sacked four times. Fadil Diggs is just beating the living hell out of JC Latham AGAIN, like he did last year. He's been almost unblockable. When the Aggies bring pressure, they're forcing quick throws or they're getting sacks. Alabama can't run the ball at all. Their long carry is 6 yards.
Special teams and the crowd have played big parts in this. Ainias having that 46-yard return immediately became a touchdown, and Alabama has 5 false starts.
This game is not over by a long shot, but Alabama is in real trouble IF A&M can figure out how to limit the damage from the deep ball. Right now, that is their entire offense. And when the Aggies get pressure, which is frequent, Milroe gets frazzled.
If A&M can get a stop here to start the third quarter and go down and score, that may be the ballgame. The Aggies have dominated the third quarter of the last two games, so if that trend continues, they've got a great shot at winning this game.
