Aggies Drop a 26-20 Decision to No. 11 Alabama

Saturday, October 7

Bryan-College Station

2:30 PM

Texas A&M

4-2 , 2-1

Alabama

5-1 , 3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Alabama

Texas A&M

Photo by: Rachel Mahan/Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 07, 2023 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Thomas Dick, Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M football team succumbed to an Alabama second-half surge in a 26-20 loss to the Crimson Tide Saturday at Kyle Field.

Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC) scored the first 16 points coming out of the intermission to erase A&M's 17-10 halftime lead as the Aggies (4-2, 2-1) were unable to take advantage of two second-half Alabama turnovers.

Two plays after the Aggies' Bryce Anderson intercepted a Jalen Milroe pass and returned it 15 yards to the A&M 35-yard line, the Crimson Tide's Caleb Downs picked off a Max Johnson pass at the Aggies' 37-yard line.

Alabama followed with a six-play scoring drive capped off by a 15-yard aerial from Milroe to Jermaine Burton to tie the game 17-17 midway through the third quarter.

The Crimson Tide scored on its next possession with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to Burton, staking claim to a 24-17 advantage with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Texas A&M's Demani Richardson forced a fumble and Anderson recovered it at the Alabama 29-yard line with 11:09 remaining in the game. The Aggies were only able to cobble five yards on the drive and Randy Bond's 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Chris Braswell.

The Crimson Tide lead stretched to nine points when Johnson was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety with 5:55 on the clock.

Texas A&M appeared to hit paydirt twice on its final drive of the game, but both were called back – one due to video review and one with a holding call. Johnson hit Ainias Smith in the left flat and Smith broke through two tackles and outran a defender down the left sideline, but was deemed to have stepped out at the 2-yard line. Two plays later Le'Veon Moss rushed around the left end into the end zone from 2 yards out, but a holding call negated the score. The Aggies settled for a 20-yard field goal by Bond to trim the margin to 26-20 with 2:11 remaining.

Texas A&M was unable to recover the onside kick and Alabama converted a 3^rd-and-7 to run out the clock.

The Aggie defense had another huge sack performance, recording six on the day. Edgerrin Cooper led the attack, logging 11 tackles, three sacks, three TFL and a forced fumble. Fadil Diggs added a pair of sacks.

The combatants traded field goals in a defensive-minded first quarter. The Aggies' second possession of the game stalled out at the Alabama 5-yard line after traveling 49 yards on seven plays and Bond capped it with a 22-yard field goal. The Crimson Tide answered immediately with a 39-yard field goal by Will Reichard following a 49-yard drive, knotting the score at 3-3 with 1:56 remaining in the quarter.

Alabama grabbed the momentum on the first play of the second quarter when Milroe hit Isaiah Bond over the top down the middle for a 52-yard touchdown pass for a 10-3 advantage.

After the Aggies punted on their next drive, the Maroon & White defense and special teams provided a spark. A Diggs sack for an 8-yard loss on 3^rd-and-8 forced an Alabama punt.

Smith weaved through the Crimson Tide punt unit for a 46-yard return down to the Alabama 22-yard. On the next play, Johnson hit his brother Jake Johnson for a touchdown strike to tie the score with 9:57 left in the half.

Two Milroe incomplete passes, a false start and a 7-yard sack by Diggs forced another punt by the Crimson Tide and Ol' Sarge's charges took control at their own 47-yard line. A defensive pass interference penalty on 3^rd-and-8 and an 18-yard pass from Johnson to Moose Muhammad III on 3^rd-and-10 keyed an 11-play, 53-yard touchdown drive. Moss finished it off with a 1-yard run and the Aggies lugged a 17-10 lead into the locker room.

Texas A&M travels to Knoxville, Tenn., next week to face Tennessee at Neyland Stadium. The game will air on CBS with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. CT.

Postgame Notes

Team Notes

The Aggie defense tallied 6.0 sacks on the day, marking the first time in program history A&M has strung together three-straight games with at least 5.0 sacks, after posting 7.0 in each of its first SEC games.
Texas A&M held Alabama to just 23 rushing yards on the day, marking the fourth time this season the Aggies have kept their opponent in double-digits on the ground.
Attendance for the game was 108,101, which ranks as the third-largest crowd in the history of Kyle Field.
Today's captains against Alabama were OL Layden Robinson, DL McKinnley Jackson, DB Demani Richardson and WR Ainias Smith.

Individual Notes

Graduate WR Ainias Smith surpassed the 2,000 career receiving yards mark with his 88 yards against Alabama. His current career mark of 2,043 is the eighth most in program history.
Smith is the only player in SEC history to rack up over 2,000 career receiving yards, while also tallying at least 250 rushing (389), punt return (814) and kick return (275) yards.
Adding four catches on the day moved Smith into sixth all-time at A&M as he upped his career total to 153, while his 137 all-purpose yards put him at 3,521 for his career, good for 13^th in the A&M career record book.
Smith extended his games with a reception streak to 33 consecutive games, which ranks as the 10^th longest streak in the nation and the longest for the Aggies since Christian Kirk (2015-17) had a catch in 39 straight games.
Junior LB Edgerrin Cooper led the defense with 11 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble. This marked the third double-digit tackles game of his career and the third straight game he has had at least 2.0 TFL, fourth this season.
Junior DL Fadil Diggs set a season high with five tackles, including a career-best 2.0 sacks for 15 yards lost.
Sophomore DL Walter Nolen as recorded a sack in all three SEC outings this season, taking down the quarterback for a loss of 3 yards Saturday.
Sophomore DB Bryce Anderson recorded the first interception of his career, picking off Alabama and returning the ball 15 yards, also adding a big fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.

Postgame Quotes: Jimbo Fisher

(quotes courtesy Caption Pros)

COACH FISHER: I'm proud of our kids. They played their hearts out. Played physical. Heck of a football game. Lost to a good football team. Had opportunities in the game. We had momentum in the game, had control of the game at times. The back and forth, two good teams going at it, we were playing well.

First half, come out of there 17-10. It was very solid. Felt second half, calling what we did, what we had to get done. They came out and had a good drive. Got a decent kickoff and we had a good drive. Our defense made a really good play.

Bryce Anderson had a nice pick. We get it back and then on second down, we were throwing it and they bring a blitz. Max [Johnson] throws to the right guy. He has got a hot route to the tight end. He's got to get it out in front of him just a little bit more. Guy came from behind and made a heck of a play. Got the turnover right back, and that was a big momentum swing in the game. We have got to help him a little better.

And then they get down and score. And unfortunately, the defense really made a nice stand and then they got a third and 14. They got a third and 14 on a third-down conversion.

Then we get it back and move it really well and miss a third and one and a half, third and two right there, and get a full yard. If it had been inside a yard, probably would have won about a yard so we could pin 'em back, get 'em, get our defense who had been playing well.

Unfortunately, they hit a double move and got a big play and got a third and nine and got a touchdown again.

And then we moved it again. We moved it up there again, kept moving the ball. We got stymied two or three times around the, I don't know, 45, 50, 40-yard line right there. We just didn't get across and get those points.

And they get a critical turn. Defense does a great job. Again, stripped the ball out. I think Bryce [Anderson] got the recovery. I'm not sure we got the recovery. Bryce got the recovery, and they stripped it out. And we get a two-yard gain, and we get a sack, we get a ten-yard game, we get a field goal and get it back 24-20, and they blocked it. They got penetration and that can never happen.

And they got a block, and then we held 'em. And got back down there and we had the ball on about their 10 or -- 15-yard line, and sack -- two sacks. They got beat on the pressure. And Max was getting hit, trying to get it out. We had a guy open. And they got a safety, and that was a big play in the game. Made it a two-score game. We punted to them, kicked it off. The defense did a good job stopping them then. And then we take it right down and score.

I thought -- Ainias [Smith], got the ball back to him and got some plays made and he made a great run. He got him out. And then we scored, and then they called a holding. I'm not sure who they called it on. We had a hold there. I'll go back and look and see what happened.

Then we got it back to the two on third down but elected to go for the field goal. We needed two scores. There wasn't no sense to lose it right there. If we didn't get, it would have been over with. So we tried to get it and kick it and get the onside kick. We didn't get it.

Unfortunately, we had it down. We thought we were going to get it with a minute to go if we could have stopped them on that third down. The guy flipped it up in the air, went on his knees and caught it, I guess. I guess if you touch it with your knees, and not control, it's not down. Then they got the first down. We got to find a way to help our guys.

Our guys played hard. The kids played hard. They played physical. It is a hurt locker room. They felt very good about how they were playing in the game.

And again, it's still a really good football team. We got to keep -- regroup. We got six games left. We have to go on the road and play six games. There's not a game out there we can't have success in, but it's also going to be a very tough schedule. We've got to line up and go play. It's only one loss in the league, and there's a lot of football left to see. Unfortunately, we got to find a way as coaches, and me as the head coach, to find a way to get one more play and put them in a better position. We will get better at it.

Q. I know you missed on the early fourth and 1. What went into the decision, the fourth and 1?

COACH FISHER: We was tied up. The score was 17-17. They just had momentum in the game. We missed a third and we had a third and 2. We went to it fourth and 1. If it wasn't a full yard, inside a yard, it probably would have went. We didn't get it. I said, listen, we can pin 'em back. Our punter does a great job. Unfortunately, that's the one he kicked just a little bit long. They got it at the 20, but it was a tied game. I thought our defense played great the whole time. I thought we would get the ball back and play. And we got stopped earlier on two third and 1s.

Q. And y'all got to [Jalen] Milroe over the first couple of quarters, four or five sacks. What was the difference in the second half?

COACH FISHER: I think they did a good job of getting -- they got the ball out quicker. They changed the passing game. They started quick passing it, getting it out a lot quicker. He wasn't holding it. They were getting it downfield. They hadn't really thrown that kind of passing game and had done -- they did a better job at the intermediate passing game and getting the ball out quicker. They were taking shots and getting the ball downfield. We still got some pressure on him, but he was doing a good job of getting in a rhythm and he got it out a little bit quicker and they changed up what they were doing a little bit.

Q. Two questions. You talk a lot about sudden changes and the mentality after it. Is this a mentality of after a sudden change that goes positively? And how did you think your team responded to that quick double sudden change?

COACH FISHER: Well, I mean we had it back -- they had a third and 14. The sudden change after the turnover to turnover, offensively, obviously, we didn't get it done. We turned it back over. But then our defense did a really good job and had it third and 14 and they hit a play. Those other two plays, they come back out on the field. They didn't panic right then and got it back that way. And what happened? And, you know, we have got to do a better job. We have got to do a better job.

Q. I know early when they were targeting [Jermaine] Burton, [Josh] DeBerry was out there. You switched him out for Deuce Harmon. But DeBerry came back out. What was --

COACH FISHER: And also from the rest and you have got guys that play a lot of ball and they had some nicks and knacks and we were trying to rotate guys and keep them healthy and fresh in the game. And also, when we did, we got him more help, got him in zone coverage, got him help over the top and didn't leave him isolated as much.

Q. What went into the decision to call the time-out and then go for the field goal?

COACH FISHER: We had to. We were two scores down. If we don't score there, the game is over right there. You have to get -- I didn't want to waste the time.

Hopefully we were going to score. We would kick it, had three time-outs, could pin them back. But when you went there to rush the field-goal team on, I thought it was too much -- it would be too much time wasted because it was about 2:15, 2:20. So we would call them out and kick it, go for the onside kick. If we got a stop, we'd have a minute left.

Ideally, I wanted to score a touchdown. I thought we scored twice, Ainias [Smith] and then the other one. I was trying to save the three to kick it deep and pin 'em. We had played in the run really well and make them throw it in what we did.

I wanted to get it back to a one-score game. I didn't want to take a chance losing the game right there on fourth down.

Q. And then Jalen [Milroe] throws it out of bounds. It looked like there was maybe one second left.

COACH FISHER: Could have been. I thought so too. I thought there was one when the ball hits. That's a play everyone works on. You run down there and you do it. It takes seven or eight seconds. I thought there was one, but, I mean -- I can't see.

Q. Coach, could you elaborate on the -- after the field goal, I guess deciding to go for the onside rather than kick it deep. I know it can go both ways.

COACH FISHER: We had the two time-outs and they could run it down. If you had three, I would have kicked it down. If you get a stop, you can guarantee.

With two, it's hard right there. And they got the first down. They got it coming off. I wanted to take a chance in getting it back. I wanted one more opportunity to get it back.

We worked on them hard. That one didn't get the hop. We had been working on it and getting a lot of good ones in camp and practice. I wanted to give us a chance to get the ball.

Q. Coach, you came into this ball game running the ball pretty effectively. But today it looks like you only got 67 yards. Were you surprised by that?

COACH FISHER: No, I mean, I knew it was going to be hard running. They played the run very well. Their inside people play the run. They have always played the run well. Hopefully, we could have run it better. I wanted to run it better. You have always got to have balance, but it takes sacks out. In college ball, you take sacks and you put in your running yards. That's not really indicative of your run. It kind of should go in your passing yards. It does for us in stats.

We knew it was going to be a hard slant running the ball, but we wanted to keep running it to keep them honest and keep it balanced. And we had some good runs in there. We had some good runs at times, but we needed a couple more.

Q. Jimbo, what was Jermaine Burton doing to give you guys some problems?

COACH FISHER: He's just a good player. He can run. He was isolating, sometimes even one on one. He made -- a couple times we were there making the plays, he made one or two really nice contested catches on deep balls. The other one he had a double move. He's explosive. He got us on a double move, and I think he had a nice corner route right there.

And then he broke a tackle on a slant. I think 11 (Deuce Harmon) was in there too. He will broke a tackle on a slant route that broke through there. He's a big, strong, good player, man. That boundary guy can get isolated sometimes, and that's what they did.

Q. The decision at the end of the first half to not take a time-out and kind of --

COACH FISHER: Well, we have only got two time-outs. We are on the 20-yard line. There's less than a minute. The odds of throwing the ball right there -- they had three time-outs left. You throw it and then they got to punt, got a check to block punt it. Your odds of going 80 yards right there don't do it. You are up 7. And if you throw a pick or a turnover right there before half, you are putting them right back in the game. You had control of the game and it was good.

If we had popped a first down -- we always have a rule. If we hit a first down, we try to get a stretch play and spread them out. If we hit the 30-yard line, we would have made the alert red. We would have hit a quick first down. We would have popped it and we didn't.

They weren't going to make us punt it and I said, Let's go into halftime 17-10.

Q. Three times inside the 10-yard line and you came away with six points.

COACH FISHER: That's correct. Three times or two times?

Q. I think it was three times. The one time with Ainias [Smith]. The first time you tried to throw it on fourth down, it was incomplete. And then the other time you kicked the field goal.

COACH FISHER: Nah, that was the 20. We were at the 20 on that.

Q. I had you first and goal at the six.

COACH FISHER: That was the second time. That's before we kicked the field goal. We threw a pas. There was two times inside the ten, wasn't it? Maybe it was three. The last two, yeah.

Q. So anyway --

COACH FISHER: We scored. We popped a score and we didn't get it. But you're right, we have got to score touchdowns in the red zone. You got to score touchdowns in the red zone.

First drive, we missed a third and 1, and fourth and 1 about the 20. And then we kick a field goal the second time. And then we thought Ainias [Smith] scored. Then we thought we scored and got the penalty. You have got to score touchdowns. You have got to score touchdowns. I agree with you 100%.

Q. Would you ever second-guess yourself for not kicking the first field goal just to get on the scoreboard?

COACH FISHER: The third fourth and 1? Inside a yard and we had momentum in the game, I thought it was the thing to do, we had things rolling and got it back. Hindsight is 50/50. But if you make it, you go in for a touchdown. You play aggressive to win.

Postgame Quotes: Ainias Smith

Q. I know it's still early in the season, but with both teams undefeated and kind of in control of the SEC West, does this feel like an extra missed opportunity?

AINIAS SMITH: What do you mean by that?

Q. Just being able to be in the driver's seat in the West if you were able to win.

AINIAS SMITH: I mean, it was tough. It's a tough loss. I guess you could say that. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say our chances are out of the water, but, I mean, I still believe in my God. So --

Q. And a lot of talk after sudden change, when the turnover goes against you about the mentality you have to have. Is there a certain mentality you like to see when y'all get the interception and turn it around on offense and have a chance?

AINIAS SMITH: Most definitely. We definitely need to come out with more urgency, especially when our defense made plays for us. They were balling at the end of the quarter, the end of the fourth. And those are big momentum swings, you know what I'm saying? We had to capitalize on that. We got to come out with more urgency and be able to finish those draws.

Q. Ainias, what changed after halftime? It didn't seem like you guys got much going until your big play at the end.

AINIAS SMITH: We just got to capitalize. I feel like I could have made a play on the D ball. I feel like that would have changed the game tremendously. 3 (Jermaine Burton) made a great play. You know, shout out to him or whatever. But, man. It was tough.

Q. Ainias, you have a short week to turn around and then go to Knoxville, and there's still an opportunity as you said to potentially win the West because Alabama will face them as well. What is the mentality you have to carry over from this game?

AINIAS SMITH: I mean, we have to learn from this game, all the negative and all the positive and bringing everything together and come together as one. Don't divide, you know what I'm saying. We need to stay together as a team and we just need to build off of this game and really go in almost angry, you know what I'm saying? And come back with vengeance.

Q. Did you feel like there were potentially a few missed opportunities to where momentum could have shifted back in favor offense, versus in favor of Alabama?

AINIAS SMITH: Most definitely. I feel like the D ball that I had was one of those, big time.

Q. Ainias, third largest crowd in program history here at Kyle Field. What was it like playing in that environment? A more positive note, obviously, forced a ton of false starts for 'Bama.

AINIAS SMITH: It was exciting. The crowd was definitely rocking the whole game. Even when we got down to the end, they were still believing in us, you know what I'm saying? They still have faith.

I was telling the guys on the sideline, like keep your head up. Keep faith, and the crowd, they played a tremendous part in, you know, the defense's success in a way. Just being as loud as they, could especially in the first half, you know what I'm saying. Even towards the end, I think they got three false start penalties in a row. So a shout out to the 12th Man most definitely.

Q. Ainias, besides obviously the six points difference, what do you think is the difference in this -- in these two teams, the difference between Alabama and Texas A&M?

AINIAS SMITH: The difference? I would probably say that -- I guess you could say this game they just wanted it more. I mean they came out with the win. It's tough to point out an exact difference, you know what I'm saying? I haven't watched the film and then yet -- I mean, they came out and they -- when they was down at halftime, they never backed down, you know what I'm saying? They kept fighting. I feel like we kept fighting, you know what I'm saying? All the way towards the end, our defense was doing tremendous. And we just got to capitalize more on offense.

Q. Ainias, not being able to capitalize, I guess, for the amount of points that you really needed against Alabama -- I mean, field goals are great but you need touchdowns against those guys. You came up short a couple of times there.

AINIAS SMITH: Right. Yeah. It's tough not being able to get the things that you always want, you know what I'm saying? And that's just something that we got to keep working on, not able to just, like, down on ourselves, like stay down on ourselves. We have to keep moving, have to keep pushing, have to keep learning, you know what I'm saying? We still have a long season ahead of us. Just got to keep moving forward.

Q. Ainias, it looked like you shared a moment with Coach [Nick] Saban after the game. What can you tell us about that interaction?

AINIAS SMITH: Nothing huge, just talking action about how my brother was doing and telling me that I had a great punt return, and whatnot. That was about it. I tried to catch him. I felt like he was trying to run away from me. I told him, I was like, don't run. But it was -- it's all love.

Postgame Quotes: Bryce Anderson

Q. Hey, Bryce, when you get the pick and you get that sudden change, what's the mentality that you usually like to see the offense go out with? And how frustrating or what's the feelings when you have to go right back out a play later?

BRYCE ANDERSON: Our mindset is always, so what, now what? We got a pick and offense gave a pick back. We got to go on the field and get a stop right there. We can't give up a first down in their position.

Q. Bryce, what kind of challenges was Jermaine Burton giving you guys today in coverage?

BRYCE ANDERSON: We knew coming into the game that basically their only shot was going to be either run the ball, get the run established or take shots deep, and obviously, he had a pretty decent day going deep on us, and getting open on us on a couple of routes.

Q. And then what did you see on the fumble recovery?

BRYCE ANDERSON: He ran the over route. We was outside leverage. Demani [Richardson] a great play on the ball, stripped it, picked it up, that's another sudden change. So that was a great play.

Q. Kind of walk us through the interception because it looked like you were almost baiting him to make that throw and then jumped it.

BRYCE ANDERSON: Yeah, first, I was playing middle field. It was a cover one defense. It was a stunt game going on, on the D line. I seen it was to the field as the X receiver by himself. So I was favoring that side at first, and I seen they tried to ran the fake toss, and then our corner head drove on it. So I didn't know the ball was going to be coming.

Q. Bryce, what do you think changed with the Alabama offense that presented more challenges when it came to y'all defending them?

BRYCE ANDERSON: Really, they started showing more shots, and they had some success going deep. We got to be better playing the deep balls, be better as a defense, get the stops that we need to get. But, yeah, I feel like it was all on us. It was nothing that they did.

Q. Bryce, I will have two for you. First, Coach [Jimbo] Fisher said that the locker room was hurt. Can you kind of talk about what you guys are going to have to do to rebound to get ready for Tennessee next week?

BRYCE ANDERSON: Have a great week of practice. Don't let the guys get down in the locker room. keep everybody's heads up, keep the same intensity. We go to Tennessee, right? Yeah, we go to Tennessee. It will be a hard game on the road. We just have to stay up for that game.

Q. And the fact that defensively, you guys seemed like you just jumped all over them, and the 12th Man got behind you, but then in the second half, they seemed to have figured some things out. Can you say exactly what that was?

I know you talked about the deep ball, but was there anything else in particular that you can kind of put your finger on?

BRYCE ANDERSON: Not really. We have to defend the deep balls better, play the deep balls, and we would have won that game.