TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama football team began the new week of practices with an hour and 15 minutes of work in shells on Monday afternoon at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
This past weekend, the Crimson Tide came away victorious in the annual “Third Saturday in October” rivalry matchup, handing the then-No. 9/11 Tennessee Volunteers a 49-10 defeat in Knoxville, Tenn. Next on the schedule for Alabama is No. 6/6 Texas A&M. The Aggies will come to Tuscaloosa for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will air live on CBS with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce on the call once again.
Texas A&M enters Saturday’s game with a perfect 6-0 overall record, most recently taking down then-No. 9/9 Tennessee in College Station, 45-38 on Oct. 8. The Aggies spent last week on a bye. TAMU is led by head coach Kevin Sumlin, who owns a 42-16 mark in his fifth season in College Station and a 77-33 career record between Houston and Texas A&M.
The Crimson Tide leads the series with the Aggies by a 6-2 margin, dating back to the first meeting in the 1942 Cotton Bowl, and has won the last three meetings between the two squads. The last matchup in Tuscaloosa came in 2014, as Alabama came away with a 59-0 victory, the largest win over a ranked opponent in UA history. Last season, the Tide left College Station with a 41-23 win.
Earlier in the day, head coach Nick Saban was named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week following the Tide’s 49-10 victory over Tennessee. The 39-point margin of victory was the largest in the series between the two teams since 1906.
Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts also received another weekly accolade as he was named to the Davey O’Brien “Great 8” list for the second consecutive week. Hurts was effective both on the ground and through the air, passing for 143 yards while rushing for 132 yards and a career-high 3 touchdowns against the Vols.
Nick Saban met with the media on Monday afternoon. Following is his opening statement:
“Well, after watching the last game, we probably approached playing the most complete game all year. There are obviously many things we can improve on. I think the question is: Do you rest on your laurels, or do you stay hungry to try to improve on the things you did correctly and fix the ones that you didn’t? You can either build on it or rest on it. I think with the challenges that we have, like I said that’s one game, so we need to move on to the next game, which is a very challenging team.
“Texas A&M probably presents as many issues as any team we have played all year. They are very well-coached; Kevin Sumlin has done a really good job there on offense, defense and special teams. They are highly ranked in a lot of categories, whether it’s turnover ratio, scoring defense or their ability to run the ball. They have a very high-powered, balanced offense. Trevor Knight has done a really good job at quarterback for them implementing their offense. Trayveon Williams, who is a freshman, has been a very dynamic running back, probably the best we’ve seen all year. They have a talented receiver core. They really have some dominating players on defense in Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall, the two defense ends that create a lot of problems in terms of being great edge rushers. They’ve been really opportunistic on defense in terms of getting turnovers. So, there are a lot of important things for us to do well in the game, and it’s going to take all phases doing well to have a chance to be successful”
