Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron (10) is stopped short of the goal line as Texas A&M defensive lineman Kirby Ennis (42) pursues during the second half of an NCAA college football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dominating the fourth quarter has long been a goal in football, but it’s the third quarter where Alabama could use the most work.
In Saturday’s 29-24 loss to Texas A&M, the Crimson Tide rebounded from a 20-0 deficit after the first quarter to close the first half down just 20-14. Alabama held the Aggies to minus-6 yards on their first six second-half plays, but the Crimson Tide failed to make much noise offensively.
Alabama went three-and-out on its opening second-half possession and settled for a field goal on its next drive.
“We’ve discussed it and talked about it and talked about it before this game,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “I think we need to always have something that’s a little bit different that we can go to, because people are going to make adjustments at halftime to what you’ve been doing. We got a couple of stops on defense at the start of the second half but lost momentum because we couldn’t move the ball.
“That’s something we need to work on and improve, and there is no reason for us not to be able to execute better when we come out in the third quarter.”