No. 13 Alabama snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday, defeating Texas A&M 31-20 at Bryant-Denny Stadium to improve to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Crimson Tide entered the matchup after consecutive losses to Georgia and Tennessee, raising questions about the team’s direction under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer. Alabama responded with a fourth-quarter surge, outscoring the Aggies 14-0 after trailing 20-17 in the second half.
Quarterback Keelon Russell completed 19 of 30 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, connecting with Daniel Hill, Marshall Pritchett and Kaleb Edwards for scores. Wide receiver Rico Scott led the receiving corps with six catches for 156 yards.
Alabama’s ground game remained a concern, totaling just 68 rushing yards on 26 carries for an average of 2.6 yards per attempt. Texas A&M finished with 115 rushing yards and 278 total yards of offense.
DeBoer praised his players’ effort through a back-and-forth contest that stayed tight until late.
“Just proud of the guys and the way they fought for four quarters, and the way they finished especially, just continued to stay with it,” DeBoer said. “At different times in the game, it could have gone the other way, but our guys kept finding a way to make a play and keep them out of the end zone.”
The coaching staff anticipated a close battle based on Texas A&M’s earlier results this season.
“We really felt like it was gonna be a four-quarter game, and we needed to continue to stay the course and just keep applying pressure, continue to play hard, play our game, understand that the third and fourth quarter was where we could separate ourselves,” DeBoer said.
Despite the victory, DeBoer expressed clear frustration with the inability to establish a consistent running attack.
“Disappointed, disappointed,” DeBoer said. “The stats, that’s all you gotta really look at, and we needed more out of that run game to open up some things for us.”
Negative plays and missed blocks stood out as areas requiring immediate attention.
“When we get some negative yards and have guys that are unblocked at the point of attack, or falling off blocks, those are things that we gotta get back to the basics, and we gotta get better at,” DeBoer said.
Russell, a young quarterback, recovered from early mistakes to deliver key throws in the closing stages.
“I thought he did a really good job of reeling himself back in, going out there, and just to continue to focus on doing his job,” DeBoer said. “He made some really nice throws on some conversions there at the end of the game, and we got confidence, and we need him to continue to do that, and that’s why he’s out there for us.”
Scott provided a spark in the receiving game amid ongoing injuries elsewhere in the offense.
“I thought Rico came up in a big way,” DeBoer said. “Keelon has a lot of confidence in him, and him and Lottie made some big plays for us tonight.”
Offensive lineman William Sanders left with a lower-extremity injury that could keep him sidelined beyond a couple of weeks.
“He’s probably the one guy that could be out for a little bit,” DeBoer said. “Maybe not a week or two. It might be a couple more than that.”
The win came on DeBoer’s birthday, and players celebrated with a Gatorade bath in the locker room.
“This is really the only birthday gift I was wanting was finding a way to get a win tonight,” DeBoer said.
Alabama now enters a bye week before traveling to face LSU on Nov. 7, with four regular-season games remaining. The Crimson Tide will look to build on the late-game execution that proved decisive against the Aggies, who fell to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
