Step one in upset
Fast start essential to pull off upset of top-ranked Alabama
A&M can’t afford a slow start against Alabama.
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M first-year coach Jimbo Fisher is meticulously familiar with the flash and dash of Alabama’s top receivers — he witnessed the same moves when they were in high school.
“I recruited every one of them,” the former Florida State coach said with a chuckle. “Those guys are all very dynamic playmakers.”
They’re also next up for A&M, as the No. 22 Aggies visit BryantDenny Stadium and top-ranked Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s all about the finish,” A&M safety DeShawn Capers-Smith said of the secondary’s task of trying to slow down Alabama’s fleet of receivers. “That’s the thing we’re doing now — finishing.”
Finishing hasn’t been the problem for the Aggies in their past two games. Starting has, and their bumpy beginnings are in part because of breakdowns in the secondary.
A&M pitched a shutout in the fourth quarter against then-No. 2 Clemson on Sept. 8, but had allowed four touchdowns over the first three quarters, including a 64-yard scoring strike from Trevor Lawrence to Tee Higgins amid multiple breakdowns in A&M’s secondary.
The Aggies scored 13 points in the fourth quarter against the Tigers but fell 28-26. More troubling considering the competition, last weekend Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Caleb Evans connected on consecutive passes of 34 and 36 yards against a backpedaling A&M secondary just before halftime. That led to a Warhawks 2yard touchdown pass with four seconds left in the second quarter.
“We’ve got to take away some of the small mistakes — bad eyes, small assignments we missed,” Capers-Smith said. “It all comes down to practice. We need to stay in the film room and make sure everything is put together.”
For a second consecutive week, A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko adjusted accordingly at halftime, and the Aggies shut down ULM the rest of the way in A&M’s 48-10 victory. But the Aggies can’t afford a backpedaling start at Alabama, considering the Crimson Tide’s early domination of their first three opponents.
Alabama outscored Louisville, Arkansas State and Mississippi 117-7 over the first two quarters, then eased into cruise control each time. Alabama receivers have accounted for 12 of the Crimson Tide’s 19 touchdowns on offense, including six by Jerry Jeudy.
“They’ve opened it up more — they’re throwing more (on earlier downs),” Fisher said of the Crimson Tide’s powerful offense fueled by sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. “There’s a larger volume of that right now with what they’re doing. Everybody does it on third down, but on first and second downs you’re seeing more of that true dropback passing game than they did before.”
Ten different receivers have caught passes for the Crimson Tide in three games, and five of those have receptions have gone for at least 31 yards.
“What makes them unique is they can run the route tree and they all have great vertical speed, but then they also can catch the ball underneath and have tremendous running skills,” Fisher said.
A&M’s secondary is led by senior safety Donovan Wilson and junior cornerback Charles Oliver. Sophomore safety Derrick Tucker had a rough go of it against Clemson — in particular whiffing on Higgins’ long score — but rebounded with a solid game brent.zwerneman@chron.com twitter.com/brentzwerneman against ULM.
“You’re always trying to eliminate big plays,” Fisher said of the secondary’s overall task. “We’ve given up some, but at the same time we’ve broken up a lot. As a secondary guy, you’ve got to have a short memory. But you’ve also got to understand why that happened and correct it.
“It’s like … the quarterback — every time he touches the ball it can change the game one way or the other. Just like in the secondary. One slipup, one eye violation, one missed jam, a trip … you’ve got to get your technique better.”
For his part, Alabama coach Nick Saban said “there’s no comparison” between last year’s A&M defense and this year’s unit, and noted that Elko also wasn’t with Fisher at Florida State last season.
“It’s a completely different system,” Saban said. “The guy came from Notre Dame and pretty much (runs) the system he did at Notre Dame, which is different than what they did at Florida State. It’s also different from what they’ve done at A&M in the past.”