Alabama enjoyed many happy returns during Saturday's 47-28 triumph at Texas A&M.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide did not overwhelm the Aggies in rushing offense or passing offense at Kyle Field, but it was a very different story on special teams. Junior receiver Henry Ruggs III amassed 131 yards on four kickoff returns, while sophomore receiver Jaylen Waddle racked up 128 yards on four punt returns.
"I think special teams were huge in this game," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Saturday night in a news conference. "We went over 300 yards in returns. The way I do math on that is, whether you score touchdowns or not, every 100 yards you have in field position is worth six points.
"That was huge in field position and our ability to turn the field around."
Alabama had a 293-264 edge in passing yardage Saturday and a 155-125 advantage on the ground. When it came to special-teams returns, the Tide racked up 311 yards while limiting Texas A&M to just 24.
Texas A&M's Braden Mann, the reigning winner of the Ray Guy Award as college football's most outstanding punter, had another impressive outing with four kicks for a 49.8-yard average, but Saban said following last Wednesday's practice that good punters can enhance probabilities for lengthy returns.
"I knew we would have opportunities," Waddle told reporters, "because that punter can really kick it and kick it far. The punt-return team did a really good job of holding up."
Said Saban: "He kicked it far, and we returned it far."
Alabama also scored via football's third phase, with Ale Kaho blocking a punt that Tyrell Shavers ran in for a 2-yard touchdown with 11:30 left in the game. That provided the Tide their largest lead at 47-20.
Though by no means perfect, Alabama's defense did improve from its first two Southeastern Conference games against South Carolina and Ole Miss, when the Tide allowed 459 and 476 yards, respectively. Texas A&M collected 389 yards, with 75 coming on an opening possession that contained 15 plays and gobbled up the game's first eight minutes and three seconds.
"They took the ball right down and scored the first drive of the game, but our players didn't get frustrated," Saban said. "They just made the adjustments that they needed to make and played better through the rest of the half."
After allowing the opening score, Alabama closed the half on a 24-6 run.
Tide tidbits
Saban said after the game that freshman kicker Will Reichard (hip) remains day-to-day and that redshirt junior center Chris Owens (knee) will practice more this week. The Tide have won 31 straight games when scoring a touchdown on their first offensive possession. Alabama had a season-high five sacks against the Aggies, with redshirt junior outside linebacker Terrell Lewis collecting a career-high two. College football coaches with the most career victories against AP-ranked teams: Joe Paterno (86), Saban (83), Bobby Bowden (82), Bear Bryant (66) and Steve Spurrier (64). Penalties continue to gnaw at Saban, with the Tide committing 11 for 91 yards against the Aggies. Alabama (6-0, 3-0 SEC) opened Sunday as a 35.5-point favorite for Saturday night's game against visiting Tennessee (2-4, 1-2). Junior receiver DeVonta Smith was ejected at Texas A&M after retaliating for a punch thrown by Aggies safety Leon O'Neal.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.