Texas A&M Vs Alabama Crimson Tide

Picture it. Bryant-Denny Stadium in temperatures that will be Africa hot and 101,821 seats filled with impassioned Bama fans and you’re the Aggies of Texas A&M going against two All-American quarterbacks, seven All-American wide receivers and sixteen future NFL defensive draft picks.

This is the Aggies first road game this season.

Imagine the foolishness of a 240-pound Otaro Alaka attempting to cover WR Jaylen Waddle in the slot. If Coach Fisher and Defensive Coordinator Mike Elko do that who’s going to cover wide receivers Henry Ruggs, Devonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy?

A&M has the best defensive athletes of any team Alabama has played to date, but if the “Hawaiian Superman” is on his game, it just won’t matter.

Gary Danielson, commentator for CBS Sports told Saturday Down South, “One of the things they’ve got going for them heading into this game is a belief they can play with the best. After facing Clemson and doing what they did, they get on that airplane believing they have played against the best and can compete against the best. They also bring a quarterback who can throw the ball and a coach who believes in him and moves the ball around.”

Is Kellon Mond a better QB than Ole Miss’s Jordan Ta’amu?  Against Bama Ta’amu completed 7 of 22 passes for 133 yards.  More than half his passing yards came in a 75-yard TD on the opening play before going 6 of 21 for the rest of the game with two interceptions. The remainder of the game he scrambled for his life against the “Alabama Wall”.

To Mond’s credit, he lit up Clemson for 430 yards and three TDs with no interceptions last week, but the knock against him is he isn’t the best at reading defenses.  Bama’s rebuilt secondary with cornerbacks Shyheim Carter and Saivion Smith can reach the end zone turning interceptions into points.

"We practice getting the ball out," Carter said. "During the game, our goal is to get three or more turnovers a game."

"We’re just trying to get turnovers, man," safety Xavier McKinney said. "That's kind of our goal. One of our goals is to get turnovers. We try to make that a big emphasis on trying to get the ball out of the ball carrier or trying to get an interception. Anything that we can do to get points up on the board and get the ball back for our offense, that's what we try to do."

It was McKinney who snagged the ball and raced 30 yards to the end zone for the Tide’s final touchdown against Ole Miss in their 62-7 ridiculously easy romp a week ago.

As far as Bama’s special teams, it appears Coach Saban has finally found himself a reliable place kicker in Joseph Bulovas.  And, yes, I’ll “quit askin’” about the Tide’s kicking game now.

If my beloved boys from Tuscaloosa can rattle Mond’s cage early by forcing him to make unwise decisions that generate a turnover or two, they’ll all but have the game in the bag.