Once circled as the featured game on Alabama’s regular-season schedule, this weekend’s matchup at Texas A&M has lost a bit of its luster. The No. 1 Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 in the SEC) is a 17.5-point favorite as it travels to College Station, Texas to take on the Aggies (3-2, 0-2), who have opened up SEC play with back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on Saturday and will be televised nationally on CBS.
Here are five things to watch heading into the matchup.
A look at Alabama’s five-star replacements at OLB
Nick Saban was a bit cranky during his Wednesday-evening Zoom call. Perhaps that was due in part to Alabama losing another starting outside linebacker this week.
During the SEC teleconference earlier in the day, Saban revealed that starting Sam linebacker Drew Sanders suffered a hand injury that required surgery. The injury will force Sanders to miss this weekend’s game against Texas A&M as Alabama plans to evaluate his status over the next few weeks.
After revealing the news, Saban stated that sophomore Chris Braswell and freshman Dallas Turner will fill in during Sanders’ absence. When asked to elaborate on the five-star duo later in the day, the head coach got a bit testy.
“If I talked earlier in the day about them, why do I have to [again]?” Saban questioned. “It’s like a doubleheader in baseball with the same guy pitching both games. I talked about the progress that they both made this morning, so I guess I’ll repeat myself right now.
“Both guys are young guys, they’ve got a lot of potential. They’ve played some in games. They’re getting all the reps in practice. We’re going to do as much as we can to bring those guys along. We’ve got faith, trust and confidence that they’ll be ready to go during the game on Saturday.”
Braswell came to Alabama as the No. 2 outside linebacker and No. 24 overall player in the 2020 class, while Turner joined the Tide this summer as the No. 1 outside linebacker and No. 19 overall player in this year’s class.
Despite being confident in the duo, Saban’s frustration likely stems from the fact that Alabama is now down two outside linebackers after losing Christopher Allen to a season-ending foot injury during the opener against Miami.
