There's no worse feeling in the world than leaving a ballgame in any sport knowing you beat yourself. The Aggies get to endure that feeling tonight and into next week. They absolutely, positively, blew this football game. There's no other way to put it. They players, the coaches, they all laid an egg.
Let's start with the obvious. Kyle Allen had a terrible game. Three pick sixes defy explanation. Two were bad throws on open players, one... I don't know. We think that was an option route where RSJ could have run in but broke out, but Allen still threw the ball to no one in particular. He was, indeed, hurt -- he got hurt early in the third quarter and aggravated it on a later sack, so you can admire his moxie but it was his shoulder that was hurt, not his head. Bad decisions can't be excused if you come back into the game.
So do you go to Kyler? I think it's pretty clear you don't. He's struggling with his pocket presence and his reads, and the interception he threw was easy for Alabama. He didn't read the two deep safeties. If he throws it two seconds earlier, it's a big play. But it's the same mistake he made against ASU. Exact same play. So A&M has to get Allen to shake off an abysmal performance or hope Kyler improves by a huge amount in six days.
The offensive line was awful. Six sacks, multiple pressures and no semblance of a running game because they were just physically manhandled. I don't know what you do here either, because the guard-center-guard combination isn't working against bigger competition, Germain Ifedi has been inconsistent and Avery Gennesy can only play one position.
Now, let's talk about the offensive playcalling and tempo. I don't understand their efforts at running the ball, either, either in down and distance or when they ran it. Running sweeps with Carson or option when down 28-6 is just ridiculous. Running screens against this team is also absolutely pointless. When A&M used the middle of the field, they were effective -- but they hardly ever did (again). If you're going to beat Alabama, you've got to go up-tempo and keep their original 7 on the field. They didn't go high speed at any time, and they were letting Alabama substitute from the first possession. What did I say in the preview and the 10 things to watch for? Keep the backups off the field, especially on the line, in passing situations. First possession, Allen is sacked. Who got him? Jonathan Allen, the backup DE. They played right in to Alabama's hands repeatedly.
The defense screwed up by the numbers in the first quarter and gave Derrick Henry 159 yards on 10 carries. After that, he went 22 carries for 77 yards. A little more than 3 yards a carry. That's pretty respectable. But still, that's 236 yards. The only positive you can take from that is that, after getting blown off the ball in the first quarter, A&M put up one hell of a fight in the trenches. The secondary was solid all day. Daylon Mack was a monster and had a great game, and Myles Garrett continues to make a bid for All-American or more.
If you're looking for positives, there are a few. RSJ had a great game. He had a couple of big drops, but he started to show that he can get deep and cause matchup problems. Christian Kirk was great again. Garrett was amazing. Justin Evans and Armani Watts put on a bunch of big hits. A.J. Hilliard was pretty strong today.
After the first quarter of last year's game, A&M quit. They were toast. This year, they had a horrible quarter and kept fighting. That was a tremendously physical game, but after the first quarter, they gave as well as they got. But when you're giving up 21 points on your own interceptions, fail to convert on a block punt deep in opposing territory, you're not going to win football games.
It's on everyone. They have to look in the mirror and realize that. They lost this football game all by themselves. That's a big negative, but it can also be a positive. You know the bunch that beat you wasn't from Tuscaloosa. They were from College Station. Fix it.
Let's start with the obvious. Kyle Allen had a terrible game. Three pick sixes defy explanation. Two were bad throws on open players, one... I don't know. We think that was an option route where RSJ could have run in but broke out, but Allen still threw the ball to no one in particular. He was, indeed, hurt -- he got hurt early in the third quarter and aggravated it on a later sack, so you can admire his moxie but it was his shoulder that was hurt, not his head. Bad decisions can't be excused if you come back into the game.
So do you go to Kyler? I think it's pretty clear you don't. He's struggling with his pocket presence and his reads, and the interception he threw was easy for Alabama. He didn't read the two deep safeties. If he throws it two seconds earlier, it's a big play. But it's the same mistake he made against ASU. Exact same play. So A&M has to get Allen to shake off an abysmal performance or hope Kyler improves by a huge amount in six days.
The offensive line was awful. Six sacks, multiple pressures and no semblance of a running game because they were just physically manhandled. I don't know what you do here either, because the guard-center-guard combination isn't working against bigger competition, Germain Ifedi has been inconsistent and Avery Gennesy can only play one position.
Now, let's talk about the offensive playcalling and tempo. I don't understand their efforts at running the ball, either, either in down and distance or when they ran it. Running sweeps with Carson or option when down 28-6 is just ridiculous. Running screens against this team is also absolutely pointless. When A&M used the middle of the field, they were effective -- but they hardly ever did (again). If you're going to beat Alabama, you've got to go up-tempo and keep their original 7 on the field. They didn't go high speed at any time, and they were letting Alabama substitute from the first possession. What did I say in the preview and the 10 things to watch for? Keep the backups off the field, especially on the line, in passing situations. First possession, Allen is sacked. Who got him? Jonathan Allen, the backup DE. They played right in to Alabama's hands repeatedly.
The defense screwed up by the numbers in the first quarter and gave Derrick Henry 159 yards on 10 carries. After that, he went 22 carries for 77 yards. A little more than 3 yards a carry. That's pretty respectable. But still, that's 236 yards. The only positive you can take from that is that, after getting blown off the ball in the first quarter, A&M put up one hell of a fight in the trenches. The secondary was solid all day. Daylon Mack was a monster and had a great game, and Myles Garrett continues to make a bid for All-American or more.
If you're looking for positives, there are a few. RSJ had a great game. He had a couple of big drops, but he started to show that he can get deep and cause matchup problems. Christian Kirk was great again. Garrett was amazing. Justin Evans and Armani Watts put on a bunch of big hits. A.J. Hilliard was pretty strong today.
After the first quarter of last year's game, A&M quit. They were toast. This year, they had a horrible quarter and kept fighting. That was a tremendously physical game, but after the first quarter, they gave as well as they got. But when you're giving up 21 points on your own interceptions, fail to convert on a block punt deep in opposing territory, you're not going to win football games.
It's on everyone. They have to look in the mirror and realize that. They lost this football game all by themselves. That's a big negative, but it can also be a positive. You know the bunch that beat you wasn't from Tuscaloosa. They were from College Station. Fix it.
