10 Takeaways: Alabama Crimson Tide beats Texas A&M 47-28
Managing editor Kyle Henderson of BamaInsider.com provides his 10 takeaways following the Alabama Crimson Tide's 47-28 victory over Texas A&M.
Tagovailoa leads No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide past No. 24 Texas A&M
Jaylen Waddle headlines special day for Alabama's special teams
1. Tagovailoa shines in Texas
It was another marvelous day for junior Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who was 21 of 34 passing for 293-yards with four touchdowns and one interception. On the day, Tagovailoa threw four touchdowns to four different receivers and became the all-time leader at Alabama for most touchdowns thrown in a career with 81.
*With his 293 passing yards at Texas A&M, junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has accumulated 6,613 passing yards in 30 career games to rank third all-time at Alabama.
*In three games against Southeastern Conference opponents this season, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has thrown 1,155 yards and 15 touchdowns with only one interception on 75-of-106 passing (70.8).
*Denotes information provided by the University of Alabama's athletic department
Final Stats: Alabama 47, Texas A&M 28
2. Jaylen Waddle has his breakout game
The Houston, Texas native shined in his home state racking up 48-yards receiving and another 128 punt return yards. Waddle caught his first touchdown pass of the season in the first quarter when Tagovailoa hit the sophomore speedster on a screen pass, which Waddle then did the rest from 31-yards out. It's clear that when Waddle has the football, he's among the most dangerous offensive threats in all of college football.
3. Offensive line play was excellent
Landon Dickerson started at the center position and Deonte Brown started for the first time this season at the right guard position and it was clear that this is Alabama’s best set of offensive linemen. Alex Leatherwood started his sixth game at left tackle, true freshmen Evan Neal started his sixth game at left guard, and Jedrick Wills Jr. started his sixth game at the right tackle position, and for the first time this season, you could see each linemen holding their blocks, which created a pocket for Tagovailoa to step up and make throw after throw.
“I think Landon did a great job,” said Tagovailoa following the game. “With communicating upfront with the guys, giving mike points to protect me, and I think Deonte Brown did a great job as well. We had some miscommunication up-front, but in the second half I thought we fared better and cleaned everything up.”
4. Pressure on the quarterback, 5 sacks
The Crimson Tide recorded a team-high five sacks against Texas A&M on Saturday, outside linebacker Terrell Lewis recorded two sacks and had another two quarterback pressures.
“This was the first game he’s actually been able to practice and play,” commented Saban. “He practiced very sparingly before we played Ole Miss and he played half the time in that game, maybe not even that. But because he was able to practice a little bit more, I think he was more active in the game today, more confident, and probably more explosive because he was healthier.”
Anfernee Jennings recorded his fourth sack of the night and is tied with Lewis for the most sacks on the Alabama defense. Red-shirt freshmen Christian Barmore also recorded a sack on the day.
5. Containment of Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond
Saban was asked following the game about his defenses ability to affect Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond.
“We were better today until the end, I think we got a little bit tired,” said Saban. “We got out of our rush lanes a bit, this guy is a good athlete, he took off running a couple of times for a few big plays. Our goal was to make this guy throw from the pocket, not wanting him to do what he did last year and he didn’t for a long time, but then he did at the end of the game."
In total, Mond was 24 of 42 passing for 264-yards with two touchdowns and ran the football 16 times for 90-yards for one-touchdown.
6. A lot of Penalties
The Crimson Tide had 11 penalties on Saturday against Texas A&M which ties a season-high (11 vs. South Carolina). “We didn’t really finish the game with Class,” said Saban. “Too many penalties, I mean 11 penalties on the day.” The Crimson Tide had two false starts on defense, one roughing the passer, and on offense, the penalties ranged from a delay of game, a substitution infraction, a personal foul which lead to an ejection of DeVonta Smith, and an unsportsmanlike penalty near the end of the game.
When Saban was asked about DeVonta Smith being ejected Saban said the following. “Basically he got hit (punched) and retaliated, so we’ll have to wait for the conference office to find out what his status is. It was off-setting fouls, obviously, their player should not have punched him, but DeVonta should have had the discipline to not hit him back.”
7. Special Teams racked up yards and points
The Crimson Tide had 128 punt return yards from Jaylen Waddle and 131 kickoff return yards from Henry Ruggs III. The Crimson Tide also blocked their second punt of the season which led to a touchdown. Alabama kicker Joseph Bulovas was 2 for 2 on the day on field-goal tries hitting from 27 and 35-yards out.
The bad news was that Alabama had a PAT blocked and redshirt punter Skyler DeLong punted twice for 59-yards, an average of just 29.5 per punt.
“People don’t kick the ball to us very much,” said Saban. “We went through six games at the end of last season where we got one ball kicked to us that we could return on kickoff return. It got to the point where they would never kick to Waddle. Now, these guys have a great punter and a great punter is good for us because we’ll get some return balls. He (Braden Mann) kicked it far and we (Jaylen Waddled) returned it far.”
8. The Alabama run game was productive
For the second time this season, Najee Harris rushed for 100-yards. On the day, Harris had 20-attempts and racked up 114-yards, Brian Robinson ran the football 10 times for 51-yards. Harris averaged 5.7-yards per carry and Robinson averaged 5.1-yards per carry. On the season, Harris has rushed for 451-yards off 74-attempts with one touchdown and Robinson has carried the football 56-times for 259-yards with three touchdowns.
9. Who are your best four college football teams today?
Click here to post your top four, but before you do, read my take below.
10. Here are my top four teams in college football today
1. Alabama - 6-0 - Beat Texas A&M 47-28, next is Tennessee
- The Crimson Tide continues to showcase their offensive firepower and while their defense has shown signs of inexperience, the defense recorded a season-high five sacks against Texas A&M and outside linebacker Terrell Lewis finally looks 100%. Alabama does have a tough backend schedule with LSU and Auburn in waiting.
2. Ohio State - 6-0 - Open, next is Northwestern
- The Buckeyes' best win is beating Michigan State 34-0 and also beating Cincinnati 42-0. On the season, Ohio State has looked like a complete team on both sides of the football and quarterback Justin Fields is producing solid numbers. The Buckeyes still have to play Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan.
3. Clemson - 6-0 - Beat Florida State 45-14, next is Louisville
- The Tigers have won 21 games in a row and quarterback Trevor Lawrence and company only look to be getting better after their week five scare against North Carolina. Clemson has a favorable backend schedule, so if they can avoid any pitfalls, you can expect to see the Tigers once again making a bid for the playoffs.
4. LSU - 6-0 - Beat No.7 Florida 42-28, next up Miss. State
- The LSU Tigers defeated previously unbeaten Florida on Saturday evening winning by two scores. Led by Joe Burrow at quarterback who is playing at a very high level the Tigers are very capable of making a run at the playoffs. The Tigers face off with Auburn on October 26 and then head to Tuscaloosa to face off with the Crimson Tide on November 9.
Bubble
5. Oklahoma - 6-0 - beat Texas 34-27
6. Wisconsin - 6-0 beat Michigan State 38-0
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