Alabama football currently has its path to Atlanta and the Southeastern Conference championship game. That’s how important its 26-20 win over Texas A&M was on Saturday. The Crimson Tide now has three straight home games and a bye week to further turn around its season.
But before looking too far ahead, here’s how we graded Alabama after its second-half comeback an adversity-forming win.
Offense: B
It was an interesting offensive performance for Alabama. The good? Jalen Milroe threw for three touchdowns and 321 yards, the latter being a career-high. Jermaine Burton arguably played the best game of his collegiate career with nine catches for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Based on those stats, this grade should be a bonafide ‘A.’ But the passing attack wasn’t the full story.
Alabama’s offense committed seven penalties, including many false starts while the over 108,000 inside Kyle Field made its presence felt. The Aggies also had six sacks and forced two fumbles, recovering one. And perhaps the most concerning note was Alabama’s 26 rushing attempts for 23 yards. A&M’s defensive ends swarmed Milroe and forced the quarterback to have one of the best performances of his career.
Defense: A-
This is a championship-caliber defense, health permitting. It’s hard to find a unit in the country with impact playmakers at every level: Dallas Turner as a pass rusher, Deontae Lawson at linebacker and Kool-Aid McKinstry in the secondary. That’s also not counting Malachi Moore, who suffered a twisted ankle and was carted off the sidelines, Caleb Downs (interception) and a set of other pass rushers.
Texas A&M averaged 5.1 yards per play (4.0 in the second half). Max Johnson completed 14-of-25 passes for 239 yards, one touchdown and one interception. It wasn’t a bad performance considering for the lefty, especially considering he had a white jersey in his face for most of the night. The Tide amassed five sacks and Justin Eboigbe’s safety effectively iced the game.
Special teams: A-
With Alabama ahead by nine near the start of the fourth quarter, Chris Braswell broker through the line and blocked a 41-yard attempt by Randy Bond. The outside linebacker nearly had his second touchdown in as many weeks, but a questionable blocking penalty took away the score.
It’s not often a team can handle losing a very good punter. But that’s what Alabama did when it lost James Burnip to a muscle injury in the first half. Will Reichard, returning to his freshman days, averaged 41.2 yards across four attempts, helping give Texas A&M long fields.
Reichard also went three for three on extra points and connected on a 39-yard field goal. Reichard has yet to miss this year and is now one point away from breaking the all-time SEC points record (Daniel Carlson, Auburn, 480). The unit loses a point for McKinstry fumbling a punt near midfield. He recovered it, but Alabama is still committing self-inflicted errors.
Coaching: B
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and the Tide game-planning crew should be commended for their strategy against A&M. Once Alabama’s running game was clearly struggling, Alabama kept extra blockers in to give Milroe time to deliver the ball downfield. But with 14 penalties for 99 yards, it made sense Saban called Saturday his “record game” for mistakes committed and still winning.
Also, Alabama nearly had its Miami/Southern California moment when Milroe threw an errant pass with a chance to run down the clock.
Overall: B+
It was ugly, but maybe that’s the recipe for the 2023 Tide. The defense is great, special teams units are consistent and the offense has proven it can do enough when needed. The question now becomes is it sustainable?
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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].
