12th Man given night to cherish
COLLEGE STATION — In the hours after Texas A&M lost to Mississippi State at Kyle Field on Oct. 2, the Aggies’ second consecutive setback, A&M students began camping out for tickets to Saturday’s Alabama game.
It’s that kind of loyalty A&M coach Jimbo Fisher spoke of late Saturday night as fans who’d rushed the field in jubilation then headed from Kyle Field to the Northgate district to celebrate.
“This place deserves a great football team, and we’re doing everything in our power to get it there,” Fisher said.
It looked that way on Saturday. Here’s a handful of observations from A&M’s first victory over a topranked team since the Aggies defeated Alabama in November 2012 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.:
Zach attack
Fisher has vowed sophomore quarterback Zach Calzada will play in the NFL, and Crimson Tide defenders believe him. The strong-armed Calzada, in filling in for injured starter Haynes King since Week 2, finished 21 of 31 for 285 yards and three touchdown passes.
He’s come a long way since struggling mightily in the Aggies’ loss to Arkansas in Arlington on Sept. 25, and his emergence gives A&M hope of a strong overall showing in the second half of the season — especially with what is supposed to be its toughest game now out of the way.
Calzada threw a touchdown pass to Ainias Smith with three minutes remaining, and had his leg rolled on in the process. He went to the medical tent but returned to play A&M’s final series, capped by Seth Small’s game-winning field goal from 28 yards as time expired.
No matter what happens in Calzada’s career from here, the Georgian will always be remembered around A&M for Saturday’s triumph.
A sturdy offensive line?
Wonders never cease. Fisher again shuffled his makeshift offensive line, after starting tackle Jahmir Johnson was held out of the game for disciplinary reasons, and Kenyon Green played his fourth position this season (all but center) at left tackle.
The young line, which had been A&M’s primary weakness over the first five games, held its own against Alabama, providing Calzada time to find his receivers — or scoot when needed. That bodes well for A&M for future seasons, considering the amount of underclassmen currently contributing on the line.
Intimidating defense
A&M had a more intimidating defense than Alabama on Saturday, with Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young scrambling for his livelihood on multiple occasions. That was quite a change from the week prior at Kyle Field, when the Aggies inexplicably played a soft defense against Mike Leach’s Mississippi State offensive attack.
It’s truly a head-scratching few weeks in the fourth year of the Fisher era, because if the defense had played with that kind of aggression early against Arkansas and in the entirety against Mississippi State, the Aggies would be undefeated over the first half of the regular season — and perhaps even ranked No. 1 following Saturday’s upset of the reigning national champions.
Special teams rebound
What a few minutes for A&M’s special teams — the Aggies went from the deflation of a blocked punt for an Alabama touchdown to Devon Achane sprinting 96 yards for a touchdown on the resulting kickoff.
“Achane — he was off the chain,” Fisher said with a grin.
Achane is a world-class sprinter, and it showed on the return. It also reinflated the Aggies’ confidence in shoving them back to a two-touchdown lead.
Where to from here?
The Aggies already were talking about not letting the win over Alabama become a distraction next weekend at Missouri. A&M should make a healthy jump back into the Associated Press poll after playing its first game as unranked on Saturday, and there’s still plenty for the Aggies to try and grasp in 2021, even if their national-title hopes were walloped by successive losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State leading to the Alabama game.