COLLEGE FOOTBALL: ALABAMA ROUTS A&M; OU TOPS TEXAS.

Alabama shows Fisher just how far A&M remains from national-title goal

COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M came out ready.

The No. 24 Aggies weren’t rattled as they took the field against No. 1 Alabama.

They were collected, excited and executed really well right from the start as they pieced together a methodical, eightminute, 15-play touchdown drive to start the game in front of a rowdier-than-usual record crowd of 106,749 fans at Kyle Field.

But after the initial 7-0 lead, everything went downhill for A&M.

The Aggies didn’t look terrible. In a lot of ways, they looked better than they had in several games this season.

But as soon as Tua Tagovailoa and the Alabama offense took the field and started what would continue to be a scoring clinic, it was clear that even when A&M looks pretty good, it still falls way short of the team it would like to be.

Alabama is the beacon.

The Crimson Tide are a regular in the national championship game and have won it twice in the last four seasons.

And this year Alabama was the second No. 1 team that A&M had to go up against. Clemson was ranked No. 1 when the two played in the second week of the season.

“The competition is exciting. We like that,” receiver Quartney Davis said. “But these are tough teams.”

This year’s schedule is tough. The Aggies still have to go on the road to LSU and Georgia (which lost to South Carolina on Saturday and will drop in the rankings.)

And beyond this season, things won’t get easier. The SEC is competitive and becoming a top-tier team in that conference, let alone in the country, is a tough task.

A&M has been clear that it wants to be one.

But a 47-28 loss to Alabama on Saturday showed that it still has a long way to go.

When A&M hired coach Jimbo Fisher and gave him a lucrative 10-year, $75 million contract, the reason for it was clear.

The Aggies were willing to spend the money needed to be among the Clemsons and Alabamas of the world.

They wanted a national championship.

On the day of his introductory press conference, Fisher told the crowd, “My expectations are bigger than anyone’s. I can promise you that.”

The expectations are still there.

It’s only Year 2 of the Fisher regime and the Aggies were faced with what appeared to be the toughest schedule in college football this season.

Still, though, the progress isn’t being made quickly.

A 19-point loss to Alabama makes that crystal clear.

It’s not like anyone expected the Aggies to hire Fisher and win a championship the next season or anything.

But after last season’s 9-4 finish with an oh-so-close loss to eventual national champ Clemson and a seven-OT win over LSU, it did appear that the Aggies were at least getting closer.

The nine wins were the most since the squad accomplished that feat in 2013 with Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel leading the way.

So a preseason No. 12 ranking didn’t seem crazy by any means.

The Aggies were on the up and up.

They lost a lot of offensive firepower in leading rusher Trayveon Williams and leading receiver, tight end Jace Sternberger.

But the Aggies seemed to be returning enough to keep what they’d started going.

Instead, they looked flat against Clemson and Auburn. Their performance against Alabama was certainly a more inspired one. Quarterback Kellen Mond made plays under the pressure of a very talented Alabama defense. He finished with 264 passing yards and two touchdowns and 110 rushing yards and a score.

But Mond and the Aggies offense couldn’t match touchdowns with Alabama.

Defensively, the Aggies couldn’t ever really figure out how to handle Tagovailoa, who is every bit as good as advertised. Even when they had the Crimson Tide offense against the ropes, he delivered. Alabama converted on 8-of-13 third-down conversions.

“We showed some really good football but we have to do that consistently,” Fisher said. “When you play a good team, you can’t give them an inch.”

The Aggies gave a lot of inches. Despite their best efforts, they could not keep up with the best.

Once they trailed — Alabama rattled off 14 points in the first quarter after A&M’s strong start — the Aggies just didn’t have enough to respond.

“We do think we can play with every team, but there are moments in every game where we need to do little things better so we aren’t having to play (from) behind,” Mond said.

After starting the season with very lofty goals, a high ranking and hope for an improvement on last season, the Aggies are now 3-3 with some tough opponents ahead.

There’s a lot of football left and a few more chances for the Aggies to spoil someone else’s season.

But they won’t be reaching their bigger goals.

Texas A&M wants to be the best, but the Aggies showed on Saturday that they are a long way from being able to beat the best.