What To Watch For | Texas A&M at Alabama

The No. 22 Aggies begin conference play, as Texas A&M travels to No. 1 Alabama in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Bryant-Denny Stadium on CBS.

2018 TEXAS A&M FOOTBALL

The No. 22 Aggies begin conference play as Texas A&M travels to No. 1 Alabama in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Bryant-Denny Stadium on CBS.
Saturday marks the 11th meeting between the Aggies and Crimson Tide. Alabama holds a 8-2 ledger and have won the last five meetings.
This weekend's contest is the seventh time Texas A&M and Alabama have squared off with both teams ranked in the top 25.
Head coach Jimbo Fisher faces his former boss, Nick Saban, for the second time in his career. The two previously met in the season opener last season. Fisher served as Saban's offensive coordinator at LSU from 2000-04.
Since joining the SEC in 2012, the Aggies have been featured on CBS 12 times and hold a 6-6 record including a 29-24 victory at No. 1 Alabama in 2012.
With a balanced offense propelling the nation's fifth-best offense (596.3 YPG), Texas A&M sits alongside Houston, Ohio State and Oklahoma State as the only teams that rank in the top 25 in rushing and passing.
Texas A&M is just one of three teams nationally with a top 15 rushing offense and defense (Air Force & Mississippi State).
Texas A&M carries a 30-game streak of scoring at least 14 points into Saturday's game, which is the longest such streak in the SEC and ranks third among Power 5 schools (Oklahoma, 43 & West Virginia, 34).

KICKOFF: 2:30 p.m. CT
SERIES VS. ALABAMA: Alabama leads 8-2
- 1/1/1942: Dallas (Cotton Bowl) | L, 21-29
- 1/1/1968: Dallas (Cotton Bowl) | W, 20-16
- 9/14/1985: Birmingham, Ala. | L, 10-23
- 12/1/1988: College Station | L, 10-30
- 11/10/2012: Tuscaloosa | W, 29-24
- 9/14/2013: College Station | L, 42-49
- 10/18/2014: Tuscaloosa | L, 0-59
- 10/17/2015: College Station | L, 23-41
- 8/22/2016: Tuscaloosa | L, 14-33
- 10/7/2017: College Station | L, 19-27
SITE: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Capacity: 101,821)
RANKINGS: Texas A&M: No. 22 (AP), No. 22 (Coaches) | Alabama: No. 1 (AP), No. 1 (Coaches)
TELEVISION: CBS (National)
Brad Nessler, play-by-play
Gary Danielson, analyst
Jamie Erdahl, sideline
RADIO:
Texas A&M Radio Network (Regional) - The Texas A&M Radio Network provides coverage via nearly 60 stations across the state of Texas.
Andrew Monaco, play-by-play
Dave Elmendorf, analyst
Will Johnson, sideline

Texas A&M Spanish Network (Regional) - Texas A&M's Spanish broadcast can be heard on radio stations in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Brownsville and McAllen, Texas. Locally, the TAMU Spanish Network can be heard on 1550 AM.
Pedro Vela Almaguer, play-by-play
Noel Orellana, analyst

SIRIUS XM: The Texas A&M Radio Network call of the game can be heard on SiriusXM at Sirius 103 / XM 191 / Internet 962.

Compass Media Network (National)
Gregg Daniels, play-by-play
Chad Brown, analyst

Junior RB Trayveon Williams is 156 all-purpose yards shy of the 3,000-yard barrier.
Senior LB Otaro Alaka ranks as the team's most experienced player in terms of career starts and is slated to make the 37th start of his career against Alabama. The fifth-year senior is the team's only player with 30 or more starts.
Alaka and junior OL Erik McCoy are the team's leaders in consecutive starts at 29.
Senior 12th Man (and fullback) Cullen Gillaspia has made 29 consecutive appearances as the Aggies' 12th Man. He is chasing Sam Moeller's school record of 39 starts in the Aggies' hallowed No. 12 jersey.

Legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant coached the Aggies from 1954-57 before a long tenure at Alabama. Two of Bryant's proteges served as head coach at Texas A&M: Gene Stallings (1965-71) and Jackie Sherrill (1982-88). Stallings played for Bryant at Texas A&M and served as an assistant coach at Alabama from 1958-64. He would later coach the Tide from 1990-96, and led them to the 1992 national title. Sherrill played for Bryant at Alabama from 1963-65.
John David Crow was the single Heisman Trophy winner of Bryant's career in 1957 at Texas A&M, and he was an assistant coach at Alabama from 1969-71.
Dennis Franchione served as head coach at both schools -- at Alabama from 2001-02 and Texas A&M from 2003-07.
Tide special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks served in a similar capacity at Texas A&M from 2013-17.
Tide Director of Performance Nutrition Amy Bragg served the same capacity at A&M from 2005-10.
Texas A&M Senior Associate AD for External Affairs Doug Walker served as Alabama's Director of Communications for 11 years before returning to his alma mater in 2017.
Texas A&M Director of Football Recruiting Leah Knight served in a similar capacity at Alabama in 2017 and earned her bachelor's degree at the school.