Texas A&M focused on little details against Alabama
COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M took their bye week with purpose. A 3-2 record is nothing to scoff at, especially with both losses coming to a pair of then top-10 opponents. Still, early miscues led to substantial leads, giving momentum to teams such as Auburn.
The No.24 Aggies will have the opportunity to cause havoc in the rankings with a win at home over Alabama. The top-ranked Crimson Tide have been one of the biggest offensive juggernauts in football thanks to a Tua Tagovailoa and his four quality receivers.
The team focused their attention on correcting the little mistakes rather than focusing on their opponents. Hoping to find stability on both sides of the ball, the Aggies believe if their biggest opponents could be themselves.
“We knew it was a week about us,” Linebacker Buddy Johnson said. “We just got better; worked on small, fundamental things. It’s the small details that are big and we just worked on those things."
Both sides of the ball have looked flustered at times this season for A&M. The offense has seen more struggles due to early miscommunications and the lack of a run game. During the bye, the team regrouped, working on themselves and waiting to prepare for Alabama.
“We haven’t watched any yet,” Wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon said on watching Alabama film. “We took last week to get our fundamentals back…get our competitive level up there."
The Crimson Tide's defense could be a factor in stopping A&M's offensive success. The front seven under the direction of Pete Golding has collected 10 sacks and six interceptions on the season.
Protecting Kellen Mond will be beneficial, a task the Aggies offensive line has struggled to do against SEC opponents. The team, however, is not focusing on their challenger but instead prepping like it's another team.
“We practiced tempo a lot,” Offensive tackle Carson Green said. “We went a lot of tempo periods, a lot of full-speed stuff. Kind of getting us in shape, too. We did a lot more blocking drills, using the tight ends also, as well as with the running backs.”
The ultimate factor will be pressuring Tagovailoa into making mistakes. This season, the junior signal-caller has yet to create a turnover and has thrown for 23 touchdowns. Alabama's offensive line has seen their fair share of struggles, but Tagovailoa's dual-threat skills have extended plays outside the pocket.
Mike Elko's defensive front has struggled to create a pass rush. For the season, the Aggies have collected 10 sacks, two coming from defensive tackle Justin Madubuike in the Southwest Classic.
The Aggies will face Alabama at Kyle Field at 2:30 P.M. on Saturday, October 12. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.
