Scary Night In Tuscaloosa Raises Questions for the tide

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The stage was set in Tuscaloosa even before the season started. Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban were engaged in a heated war of words during the media days in May. Saban criticized Fisher’s recruiting tactics with the new NIL policy. With this feud in mind and the upset in College Station last year, this game was circled in everyone’s calendars.

After the lackluster start to the season for the Aggies of Texas A&M, intrigue changed. The general belief was that Alabama would hang a ridiculous number of points on the Aggies.  However, last week in Fayetteville, Heisman winner, Bryce Young, was injured during the game. 

He was a game time decision, and he did not play this week. This left a massive spotlight on the redshirt freshman quarterback, Jalen Milroe. Milroe was shaky at best and showed he has lots of things to improve on including ball control and accuracy. However, it was his first career start, and the stage was definitely not a small one. The star of the show for Alabama was its defense.

Will Anderson Jr. had 12 quarterback pressures, and Dallas Turner had two sacks and two tackles for loss.  

The game was messy throughout with the number one team in the country struggling at home against a two-loss A&M team. However, when given the chance to put the game on ice, things reached their lowest point for the Crimson Tide.

A quick three and out for the Tide’s offense gave Texas A&M the ball back with just under two minutes left, down by only four points.  After an incredible catch in double coverage, the Aggies were on the move and would soon be in the red zone thanks to a defensive holding call on Alabama.

Haynes King, the Aggies’ quarterback, would then threw a pass into the end zone, which was picked off by Jordan Battle, but this would be negated by a pass interference call in the end zone.

This set up the dramatic final play. From the two yard line, with two seconds left in the game, Haynes King looks to throw and overthrows his receiver.

The Tide won, but raised questions about their legitimacy once again this season. This was reflected by the new AP poll, where they are now number three. Next week will be even scarier in Knoxville against the Vols if Bryce Young is still unable to play.