Alabama defensive lineman Quinnen Williams hits Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond as he throws during Saturday's game in Tuscaloosa, Ala.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - A 54-yard run here. A 34-yard run there. And against Alabama's defense?
Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond stunned the Crimson Tide during the first half Saturday, rushing 12 times for 112 yards. The sophomore was not as effective in the second half, finishing with minus-14 yards for a net total of 98.
"We've just got to keep the quarterback pressured and keep him contained," Alabama senior defensive end Isaiah Buggs said. "We kind of lost focus on that a little bit, but in the second half we came back and regained, regained, regained and made things happen. A&M is a great team, and we give them all the credit and respect, but it's all about us.
"We've got to play our roles, and we slipped away from that in the first half."
Alabama racked up seven sacks, with Buggs accounting for three of them, but safety Xavier McKinney set the tone for a more dominant second half with his 10-yard sack on Texas A&M's first possession of the third quarter.
"They had a good plan against us, and they did a good job of executing it," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. "When you've got an extra blocker in the game, and you're doing quarterback runs and have a quarterback who's effective doing it, you've got to have an extra guy in the box all the time, and when they have a passing game like that, it's kind of hard to play the game that way, because you can give up big plays in other ways.
"That's why they're one of the best offensive teams in the country."
Surtain's first snag
Alabama freshman cornerback Patrick Surtain earned his first college start Saturday, then made his first interception late in the second quarter.
"We liked him because he's big, and they've got some big receivers," Saban said. "He made some mental errors at the end of the game that we need to correct and learn from, but I'm pleased with his progress and his performance. He's a bright guy, and he's very athletic. He's got good ball skills and plays with toughness."
Surtain's interception occurred 19 seconds before halftime, and his 20-yard return to the Alabama 40 was accompanied by a personal foul on the Aggies. That change in field position helped set up a 47-yard Joseph Bulovas field goal at the halftime horn for a 31-13 lead.
Saban was asked afterward if he remembered the play, and he provided more than enough proof that he did.
"They had all three receivers on one side and the tight end on the back side," Saban said. "They released all five guys, so he ended up in single coverage on the guy, and the guy ran a post.
"They ran a divide route, one-three cross, and he ends up by himself on that guy because all the help is used up. He made a great play on the ball."
Great Scott, he's not
Replacing Green Bay Packers rookie punter JK Scott was not expected to be an easy task for freshman Skyler DeLong, and it hasn't been.
Although DeLong did have a beautiful pooch punt downed inside the 1-yard line by Henry Ruggs in the first quarter, he also had a 13-yard shank early in the third quarter, and his next one went for 31.
"As a gunner going down, you're trying to field the ball wherever it is and make a play on it," Ruggs said. "Unfortunately, it did go off the side of his foot like that, but as time goes his punts will get better."
Texas A&M counterpart Braden Mann had a whopping 60.8-yard average on five punts compared to DeLong's 36-yard clip on six attempts.
Tide tidbits
Alabama has 10 scoring drives this season that have been less than a minute. The average halftime score of a Crimson Tide game this season was trimmed from 39-2 to 37-5. Senior running back Damien Harris on a broken facemask during the game: "I think people have a thing for facemasks, because that's the second time it's happened to me. It happened two years ago in the SEC championship. Hopefully it won't happen anymore, because it's pretty scary."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.