Alabama football coach Nick Saban watches players warm up before last week's game against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide continue SEC play today with a visit from Texas A&M.NO. 1 ALABAMA (3-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. NO. 22 TEXAS A&M (2-1, 0-0)
3:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
VIDEO & RADIO
CBS & 97.3/99.3 FM
THE MATCHUP
Today's game is unique in that Texas A&M is the first ranked team Alabama has played this season, but there will be a desire to compare Alabama and Clemson because the latter topped Texas A&M 28-26 in College Station on Sept. 8. Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher was asked this week to compare the Crimson Tide and the Tigers, who have met in the College Football Playoff each of the past three seasons. "Style-wise, they are almost totally different, in my opinion, in how they play defense," Fisher said. "They both have great players, and they both understand how to win and expect to win. Right now, they've got their programs established with the culture and the things that go on. I think they're very similar in that way, but their styles on defense are different. Alabama relies on a little more two-gap stuff up front, but the multiplicity of things in which they do and how they cover is a lot different. They really challenge you in every way, shape and form. On offense, they both have dynamic quarterbacks, but Alabama's quarterback right now is probably playing as well as anybody in the country."
ONE TO WATCH
Alabama sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has exceeded all expectations so far this season by completing 36 of 50 passes (72.0 percent) for 646 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Tagovaolia has a stellar 233.3 efficiency rating, and he has yet to be needed all four quarters. His counterpart today, Texas A&M sophomore Kellen Mond, has been stellar as well, throwing for 430 yards and three touchdowns against Clemson. This year's Southeastern Conference is loaded with quality quarterbacks, with Tagovailoa assured of being the only one who won't have to face the Crimson Tide defense on any given Saturday.
IN THE END
Fisher was given a 10-year, $75 million contract to enhance a program that got stuck in a cycle under predecessor Kevin Sumlin in which 5-0 starts would give way to 8-5 finishes. Texas A&M's high-water mark in the SEC is its 11-2 debut season in 2012, when quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy. Last year's team went 7-6 and lost the Belk Bowl to Wake Forest, and the Aggies invested in the only former Saban assistant who has his own national championship, with Fisher having guided Florida State to the 2013 crown. "Everyone knows that right now Alabama is on top of college football," Fisher said." Our kids see the consistency in which they play with, so we don't have to preach that to them, but they have plenty of examples of how to do things." This could be intriguing early, but it shouldn't be for long.
PREDICTION
Alabama 45, Texas A&M 14