The No. 2 Crimson Tide cruised to a 38-19 win over Missou in Week 1 but they will face a much stiffer test this week as No. 13 Texas A&M roll into Tuscaloosa.
By Steve Wright
Here are the three keys:
Keep the pressure on A&M
The Aggies achieved the feat of dropping in the polls despite a win last week after their 17-12 victory over Vanderbilt was seen – rightly – as a poor performance. A&M failed to control the clock and keep the chains moving, they turned the ball over four times, and there were way too many penalties for Jimbo
Fisher to be in any way pleased with the overall performance.
Alabama needs to keep the pressure on Fisher and the Aggies. If the first few drives result in turnovers or punts with little ground being gained then the Crimson Tide will be in the driving seat for the remainder of the game. Few teams have looked good in their respective Week 1, but the Aggies were about as bad as it gets in a win.
Keep Mac Jones hot
The ‘Bama quarterback was outstanding against a Missouri team that couldn’t quite get a handle on how to deal with his passing ability. He finished the game completing 18-of-24 passes with a pair of touchdowns and just under 250 yards to show for his troubles. Even so, it feels like this was just an ok performance, a warm-up before the season got started in earnest. Look for Jones to come out firing here and keeping up his completion percentage to do maximum damage to the Aggies.
Expect a talented and hungry defense
The offense may have been rough last week, but the A&M defense was really, really good against Vandy. Giving up just 10 points and 255 total yards – and having a couple of turnovers thrown in – is an impressive start to the season, especially one with basically zero practice to get the unit on the same page. This is a defense that will win plenty of individual battles and the Tide offense – specifically the running of Najee Harris – will have to be consistent while finding explosive plays now and again to keep the Tide moving forwards.
Saturday‘s game kicks off at 2:30 PM CT (3:30 PM ET). Watch on the CBS Network.
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