2022 Alabama Football Early Opponent Preview: No. 1 Texas A&M

BamaCentral takes a long first look at each of the Crimson Tide's upcoming opponents this season, in order from the bottom to the top.

A year ago, it was "We're going to beat his ass when he's there. Don't worry.”

Jimbo Fisher's injury-depleted team backed it up at Kyle Field, and Texas A&M subsequently put together a monster recruiting class.

Then came the slam heard around the college football world. 

Nick Saban, frustrated about about the lack of oversight by the NCAA about schools using name, image and likeness in recruiting, said in public that his former assistant’s school “bought every player on their team." The A&M head coach furiously fired back, calling the Crimson Tide’s head coach a narcissist and urged reporters to " dig into his past."

Welcome to the feud, which will finally return to the football field on Oct. 8, when the Aggies visit Bryant-Denny Stadium for what's being called the game of the season. Not only will it be the Saturday that everyone — to quote Lane Kiffin — should "get their popcorn ready" for, but is expected to have division, conference and national-title implications. 

Only the chances of it living up to the hype may not be very good. Similar to the spring meetings in Destin, where everyone expected fireworks, it doesn't seem likely that the game will live up to the billing. How could it? 

But we can all hope. 

On paper, Texas A&M is clearly Alabama's biggest challenger in a division that's so strong that a team that finished tied for worst last season was just two years off winning the national championship. The other team in the cellar the Crimson Tide had to scramble to take to overtime, and beat, a week before winning the SEC Championship Game. 

The Aggies finished 4-4 in the league after going 8-1 the previous year. Can the Aggies take the next step and be a consistent challenger for the division title? 

Offense

Texas A&M has had a major upgrade behind center. Zach Calzada, who was the Aggies' quarterback in the win against the Crimson Tide, transferred to Auburn. Texas A&M added prize prospect Conner Weigman, but Max Johnson and Haynes King will top the depth chart at the start of fall camp. The former LSU quarterback, Johnson, has the experience edge, while King has blazing speed and won the starting job last year before suffering a broken tibia. 

The big question is when the Aggies settle on someone, whom will he throw to this season? Outstanding return specialist Ainias Smith has gone from lining up as a wide receiver to running back, and then back to wide receiver. Either way, he has hasn't been the go-to kind of player that the offense covets. 

As for the other receivers, at least one of the prize freshmen, maybe Evan Stewart, could end up starting along with tight end Jake Johnson, with Chase Lane and Moose Muhammad also in the mix. So it's a talented, but young group. 

The biggest surprise against Alabama last year was Texas A&M starting two sophomores and two freshmen up front and still didn't give up any sacks. Led by junior guard Layden Robinson, the unit returns three starters who really started to click in the running game at the end of last season. That's good news for junior running back Devon Achane, however the key to the line's overall success will probably be left tackle, where many expect redshirt freshman Trey Zuhn to start. 

Defense 

The Aggies will be hard pressed to match last year's numbers under coordinator Mike Elko, who left to become the head coach at Duke. Six starters also need to be be replaced, which helps explain why Texas A&M recruited so many top-rated defensive linemen in the Class of 2022.

Up front, the unit is led by junior McKinnley Jackson, who made four career starts in 2021. Sophomore Fadil Diggs has played in 12 games. That's not a lot of experience, so the door will be open for some of those talented freshmen to contribute immediately.

There's only one returning starter at linebacker, senior Andrew White, although sophomore Edgerrin Cooper was fourth in team tackles with 58 last season. The real concern in the middle is depth. 

The strength of the defense is the secondary, which returns three starters and gets two back from injury including 6-foot-4 cornerback Myles Jones. The unit is led by junior Antonio Johnson, who was second on the team with 79 tackles, third with five breakups and fourth with 8.5 tackles for loss. He was named second-team All-SEC. 

Special Teams 

As learned from his time at Alabama, special teams coordinator Jeff Banks covets speed more than anything on his return units, and once again he may have the league's best return specialist with Smith. 

The Aggies also have the best punter as well in Nik Constantinou. The Australian led the SEC and was top 10 nationally, averaging 46.61 yards per punt in 2021. 

Kicker Caden Davis has some impressive leg strength. Last year he averaged 63.9 yards on the seven kickoffs against Alabama. Kicking in the Texas heat doesn't hurt either.

Schedule

If the Aggies could change one thing about this season it's probably when they face the Crimson Tide, at the end of their toughest stretch. Not only are the four opponents difficult — Miami, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Alabama — but the latter three games are all away from Kyle Field. That doesn't bode well for the Aggies, who won't enjoy their bye until after visiting Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The second half of the season includes numerous potential pitfalls including at South Carolina and Ole Miss, followed by Florida and at Auburn, plus the season wraps up with LSU. Those first three programs are all on the rise, while there are way too may question marks surrounding those last two teams especially. Both opponents could be brutally tough, or at the bottom of the SEC West standings.   

Outlook 

There's a lot of talent, and a lot of depth at most positions, but Texas A&M isn't quite on par with Alabama just yet. If the stellar recruiting class develops as Fisher hopes it might finally lead Texas A&M to Atlanta and a spot in the SEC Championship Game, and more. To expect that this season, though, might be a little too much. 

Yes, the showdown at Alabama will probably decide the SEC West, however there's a good reason why the Crimson Tide is considered the early favorite in the game, to win the division, the conference and the national title. 

Still, it's the regular-season game everyone will want to see in 2022.

The Game 

Date: Oct. 8

Time: TBD

TV: TBD

Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium

Series: Alabama leads series 11-3

Last meeting: The Aggies pulled off the upset at Kyle Field, 41-38. Kicker Seth Small hit a 28-yard field goal as time expired. The win snapped Alabama's streak of 100 wins against unranked opponents, and for the first time with the Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban took a loss against one of his former assistants. He had been 24-0. 

The Team 

The Coach: Jimbo Fisher

Offensive Coordinator: Darrell Dickey

Defensive Coordinator: DJ Durkin

2021 Record: 8-4

2021 Rankings: Total offense No. 71; Total defense No. 14

Returning Starters: 11, six on offense, five on defense

Players to Watch: RB Devon Achane, C Bryce Foster, G Layden Robinson, T Reuben Fatheree, DT McKinnley Jackson, LB Edgerrin Cooper, CB Myles Jones, S Antonio Johnson, P Nik Constantinou, PR Ainias Smith

Top Newcomer: Texas A&M signed eight players touted as being five-star talents, including four on the defensive line, but they'll still need time to develop. The two to watch this season are probably WR Evan Stewart and DT Walter Nolan, while four-star Jake Johnson might already be the best tight end on the roster.

Biggest Question: It's turning into the same question each year, can the Aggies get past Alabama? After losing its starting quarterback and four offensive linemen, Texas A&M was still able to pull off the upset at Kyle Field in 2021, yet still finished 4-4 in SEC play and had a losing record on the road. Jimbo Fisher has a talented, albeit young, team that needs to show it can be consistent, handle the pressure of being targeted, plus go to Bryant-Denny Stadium where it will face a very vocal crowd for what many think will be the game of the year. 

The School

Location: College Station, Texas

Founded: 1876

Enrollment: 73,000

Nickname: Aggies

Colors: Maroon and white

Mascot: Reveille

The Program

Coaching Changes During Saban Era: Three

Last Time Beat Alabama: 2021. The last time Texas A&M won at Bryant-Denny Stadium was 2012.

Last Time Won Division: Never.

Last Time Won SEC Championship: Never.

National Championships (3): 1919, 1927, 1939

Playoff Appearances: None

Conference Championships: 18 (17 SWC, one Big 12)

Bowl Appearances: 20–22

Last Time Didn’t Play in a Bowl: Last year, it pulled out of the Gator Bowl because of COVID-19 issues and injury issues. Otherwise, 2008.

Heisman Trophies (2): John David Crow (1957), Johnny Manziel (2012)

Consensus All-Americans During Saban Era (8): Jerry Hughes, DL, 2008-09; Tejay Johnson, DB, 2010; Paul Dawson, LB, 2014; Josh Doctson, WR, 2015; Kenyon Green, OL, 2020-21; DeMarvin Leal, DL, 2021

First-Round NFL Picks During Saban Era (10): Defensive lineman Myles Garrett was the first-overall selection by the Cleveland Browns in 2017.

2022 NFL Draft: Four selections led by guard Kenyon Green, the 15th-overall selection by the nearby Houston Texans.

Last Four Recruiting Class Rankings: No. 1 class in 2022. Previously was No. 8 in 2021, No. 6 in 2020, and No. 4 in 2019.

The Schedule 

Sept. 3: Sam Houston
Sept. 10: Appalachian State
Sept. 17: Miami
Sept. 24: vs. Arkansas in Arlington, Texas
Oct. 1: at Mississippi State
Oct. 8: at Alabama
Oct. 22: at South Carolina
Oct. 29: Ole Miss
Nov. 5: Florida
Nov. 12: at Auburn
Nov. 19: UMass
Nov. 26: LSU

Did You Know?

There are numerous connections between the programs including Paul W. "Bear" Bryant and Gene Stallings having been the head coach at both schools, and only won national championships with the Crimson Tide.

The only Heisman Trophy winner that Bryant coached, John David Crow, played for him at Texas A&M before serving as an assistant coach at Alabama. Crow later served as athletics director at Texas A&M.

It's well documented that Bryant turned the Aggies around in 1954-57, where he compiled a 25-14-2 overall record and won a Southwest Conference championship. The coach took a struggling Aggies program from a 1-9 record in 1954 to a 7-2-1 mark in 1955 (the best single-season turnaround in A&M history), a 9-0-1 SWC championship season in 1956 and an 8-3 mark in 1957.

Texas A&M was ranked No. 1 in the nation for three weeks during the 1957 season. 

It hasn't been No. 1 since. 

This is the final story in a series previewing Alabama's 2022 opponents:

No. 12 Austin Peay

No. 11 Louisiana Monroe

No. 10 Vanderbilt

No. 9 Utah State

No. 8 Mississippi State

No. 7 Auburn

No. 6 LSU

No. 5 Ole Miss

No. 4 Arkansas

No. 3 Tennessee

No. 2 Texas