Alabama Football vs. Texas A&M Postgame Notes
10/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for Saturday's road matchup with Texas A&M were seniors Ryan Kelly and Reggie Ragland and junior A'Shawn Robinson. The Aggies won the toss and elected to receive to open the game.
TODAY'S ATTENDANCE: The attendance for today's Alabama-Texas A&M matchup was 105,733, the ninth-largest crowd to watch a Crimson Tide game in program history.
BEATING THE BEST: With the win over No. 9 Texas A&M on Saturday and a prior win at No. 8 Georgia on Oct. 3, Alabama owns a 35-13 (.729) mark against the Associated Press top 25, including a 19-7 (.731) record against AP top-10 teams since 2007. This season, the Tide faces off against seven teams in the AP preseason poll, the most ranked opposition of any team in the nation. Alabama finished 5-2 in 2014 against opponents ranked in the AP top 25 after going 3-2 in 2013 and 5-1 in 2012. The Tide held a 4-1 mark vs. top-25 teams in 2011 and went 5-3 against the AP top 25 in 2010.
ROAD RECORD vs. TOP-25 TEAMS: Alabama is 23-2 in regular season games (does not include bowl games) away from Bryant-Denny Stadium since the start of the 2011 season. The Crimson Tide is 3-0 this season with wins over No. 20 Wisconsin in Arlington, at eighth-ranked Georgia and Saturday's win at No. 9 Texas A&M. Alabama was 5-1 in 2014, 4-1 in 2013, 6-0 in 2012 and 5-0 in 2011. Alabama is 2-0 all time in games at Texas A&M (1988 and 2013).
NON-OFFENSIVE TDs IN THE SABAN ERA: The Crimson Tide's Minkah Fitzpatrick returned two interceptions for touchdowns and the Tide set a school record with three touchdowns scored on interception returns on Saturday in the win over Texas A&M. The three scores marked the 39th, 40th and 41st non-offensive touchdowns of the Nick Saban era at Alabama. Since Saban took over in 2007, the Crimson Tide has garnered 19 interception returns, nine punt returns, five kickoff returns, four fumble returns and four blocked punt returns for a touchdown. Alabama had one non-offensive touchdown in 2014. The Tide had seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2013, including three in the season opener against Virginia Tech, marking the first time the Crimson Tide had done so in a game since Sept. 30, 1995, against Georgia.
THE ALABAMA-TEXAS A&M SERIES: With the 41-23 win, Alabama leads the series with Texas A&M by a 6-2 margin, dating back to the first meeting in the 1942 Cotton Bowl (following the 1941 season). The first two meetings between the Crimson Tide and Aggies were in Cotton Bowl games. Alabama won the first meeting, 29-21, in the 1942 Cotton Bowl to secure a piece of the 1941 national championship. The Aggies won the 1968 Cotton Bowl, 20-16, to even the series. Alabama then swept a home-and-home series, winning 23-10 in Birmingham in 1985 and 30-10 in College Station in 1988. In 2012, Texas A&M came out blazing and used an early lead to win the game, 29-24. Alabama returned the favor a year later in College Station, winning 49-42. The Crimson Tide pitched a 59-0 shutout in Tuscaloosa in 2014, the largest win over a ranked opponent in Alabama history.
SABAN VS. TEXAS A&M: Alabama head coach Nick Saban has faced off with Texas A&M four times, all of the matchups coming while at Alabama. He owns a 3-1 record overall and has won the last three meetings after falling in his initial contest against the Aggies during the 2012 season. Saban has coaches two games in College Station, surviving a late surge by the Aggies for the 49-42 win at Kyle Field in 2013, plus the 41-23 win on Saturday.
SABAN'S ROAD RECORD: Head coach Nick Saban owns a 58-29-1 (.665) mark in road games across his four career stops, including a 30-6 (.833) mark while at Alabama. Saban has notched four perfect road seasons (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) and has lost more than one game on the road in only two seasons (2007, 2010). Including Saturday's win at Texas A&M (41-23), Saban is currently riding a five-game winning streak, rebounding from an early season loss in Oxford to Ole Miss last season to come back and defeat Arkansas (14-13), Tennessee (34-20) and LSU (20-13 OT) on the way to winning the SEC Western Division and eventually the Crimson Tide's 24th SEC championship in program history.
SABAN VS. SEC OPPONENTS: Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban owns a 90-26 (.776) career record in 116 games against SEC opponents across three different stops (Michigan State, LSU and Alabama). While at Alabama, he has compiled a 60-13 (.822) record across conference foes, and is outscoring opponents by a staggering 2,958-1,136, or 40.5-15.6 points per game. Of his 13 losses against SEC opponents while at Alabama, all but two (Florida, 2008 and South Carolina, 2010) have been by seven points or less. Saban's first matchup with an SEC team came in the 1995 Independence Bowl against LSU, where his Michigan State Spartans fell, 45-26, to the Tigers. He would later go on to coach LSU to 30-12 overall record against conference opponents.
TIDE 89-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: Alabama led Texas A&M, 28-13, at halftime. With the 41-23 win over the Aggies, the Crimson Tide improved to 89-6 (.937) when leading at halftime under head coach Nick Saban. Alabama has led at the half in five of its seven games this year, trailing only to Ole Miss and Arkansas at the midway point. UA had converted 36 straight halftime leads into wins before falling at Auburn on Nov. 30, 2013. The Crimson Tide had also converted 28 consecutive halftime leads into victories before seeing that streak snapped in 2010 against LSU. The first two losses in the current run (when leading at the break) came against LSU, followed by a defeat to Auburn in 2010. In 2007, Alabama held a 20-17 halftime lead before losing to LSU, 41-34, in 2007 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. In 2010, the Tide led 10-3 at the half before the Tigers rallied for a 24-20 win in Death Valley. Alabama lost 28-27 to Auburn to close out the 2010 season, after leading 24-7 at the half. The Crimson Tide is 4-8 under Saban when trailing at halftime after coming away with a victory against Arkansas on Oct. 10, despite trailing 7-3 at half. The four wins in the Saban era when trailing at the half: 34-24 over No. 7 Virginia Tech in 2009 (in Atlanta); a 24-15 win over No. 9 LSU in 2009; 24-20 at Arkansas in 2010; 27-14 vs. Arkansas in 2015. He is 3-3 when tied at halftime. Alabama's three wins under Saban when tied at halftime: at LSU in 2008, (27-21), at Auburn in 2009 (26-21) and against Tennessee in 2011 (37-6).
ALABAMA'S TV?RECORD: Alabama has compiled a 231-131-4 (.637) all-time record in 366 televised games (not including pay-per-view, tape-delayed or closed circuit telecasts).
FITZPATRICKS 2 INTERCEPTION RETURNS FOR SCORES: Freshman cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Texas A&M, going 33 and 55 yards for scores. Fitzpatrick is the only player in Alabama history (via records verified back to 1948) to return two interceptions for scores in the same game.
207 INTERCEPTION RETURN YARDS: The Crimson Tide's 207 interception return yards against Texas A&M is an Alabama single-game record, the third-most in SEC history and the most since Tennessee had 214 vs. South Carolina in 1971.
JACKSON SETS ALL-TIME MARK FOR INT RETURN YARDS: Eddie Jackson's 119 return yards on interceptions is the most yards in a single game by an Alabama defender. The previous record high was 98 by Mark McMillian against Chattanooga on Oct. 5, 1991. His 230 on five picks this season are also the UA record for return yards in a season. The previous high was 163 by Hootie Ingram in 1952 on 10 interceptions.
THIRD-LONGEST PICK-SIX IN ALABAMA HISTORY: Eddie Jackson's 93-yard pick-six in the second quarter was the third-longest interception return in Alabama history. Jackson has returned interceptions this season for a total of 230 yards, setting a Crimson Tide record for interception return yards in a season. It broke a 63-year-old record set in 1952 by Hootie Ingram.
HARD TO FIND THE END ZONE AGAINST THE TIDE: The Alabama defense allowed only one touchdown by Texas A&M's explosive offense on Saturday, Since the start of the 2009 season, no defense has allowed fewer touchdowns than the Crimson Tide. Alabama's defense, led by coordinator Kirby Smart and head coach Nick Saban, has surrendered only 130 touchdowns over the last 87 games. That is 37 fewer than the second most in the nation (LSU with 166) entering Saturday's action.
HARD TO RUN ON: Alabama held Texas A&M to 32 rushing yards in the win on Saturday. Alabama has held all seven opponents in 2015 at least 69 yards below their season rushing average. The Tide held Wisconsin to 280 yards below their 2014 rushing yards average before holding Middle Tennessee (156 yards), Ole Miss (185 yards), ULM (115 yards), Georgia (69 yards), Arkansas (160 yards) and A&M (32 yards) well below their 2015 averages entering each game. In all, Alabama has held its seven opponents to an average of 161.4 yards per game below their average entering the game.
RAGLAND LEADING THE TIDE D: Senior linebacker Reggie Ragland led Alabama in tackles against the Aggies with 9 (8 solos), along with a quarterback sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. The Tide's captain in the middle has a team-leading 59 tackles, including 4 for a loss, to go with 3 pass breakups, 3 quarterback hurries and 2 forced fumbles. In 5 of the 7 games during the 2015 season, Ragland has led the Alabama defense in stops.
JACKSON EXCELLING IN NEW ROLE: Junior strong safety Eddie Jackson has excelled at his new position this season. Formerly a cornerback, Jackson moved to strong safety this season. Since the move, he has collected a team-leading five interceptions through seven games, eclipsing his previous career total of two through 18 games. Jackson has added a school-record 230 yards on the picks this season, including two touchdowns, one score against Georgia on a 51-yard return and a 93-yarder at Texas A&M on Saturday (the third-longest return in Alabama history).
FIRST HALF POINTS: With Minkah Fitzpatrick's 33-yard interception return for a touchdown on Texas A&M's second offensive drive, the Crimson Tide has scored in the first half of its last 110 games, the longest streak in the nation. The last time UA failed to score in the first half was on Sept. 29, 2007, when Alabama and Florida State headed into halftime in a scoreless tie. The Seminoles won that game, 21-14.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: With a 33-yard interception return by Minkah Fitzpatrick on Texas A&M's second offensive series of the day, Alabama has now scored in 190 consecutive games - the longest streak in program history.
RUSHING TO SUCCESS: Alabama rushed for 258 yards in the win at Texas A&M. With the win, the Tide is 73-4 since the start of the 2008 season when rushing for at least 140 yards. The only losses were at Auburn in 2013, Ole Miss and Ohio State in 2014, and Ole Miss in 2015.
HENRY REACHING THE END ZONE CONSISTENTLY: With his 55-yard run for a score in the first quarter of today's game, Derrick Henry recorded his 12th straight game with a touchdown. The 12-game streak is currently the longest active streak in the nation. The streak is also the longest in Alabama history, with the previous high being 10 by Terry Davis across the 1971 and 1972 seasons.
HENRY MOVING UP THE CAREER RUSHING YARDS LIST: Both Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake continued their rise up the career rushing list against Texas A&M. In Saturday's game, Henry rushed for a career-best 236 yards and has now amassed 2,273 yards for his career to rank 14th in Alabama history.
HENRY PASSING THE CENTURY MARK: Derrick Henry's career-best 236-yard performance against A&M pushed him past the century mark for the ninth time in his career, and the fourth 100+ performance this season. He went for 148 at Georgia on Oct. 3, 127 against Ole Miss and 147 yards with three touchdowns against Wisconsin to open the 2015 campaign. Henry had a 141-yard performance against Missouri in the SEC Championship Game last season. He also went for 111 on 20 carries with a score against Florida and 113 on 17 carries with a touchdown against West Virginia in 2014. As a freshman, Henry produced a Sugar Bowl game against Oklahoma that saw the first-year back go for 100 yards on eight attempts with a touchdown, while also collecting 111 yards on six carries with a score against Arkansas.
HENRY AS A STARTER: With 236 yards rushing versus Texas A&M on Saturday, in nine games as a starter, junior running back Derrick Henry has rushed for 1,103 yards on 177 carries (6.23 yards per carry) with 14 touchdowns. Henry earned the starting nod at tailback this season and has filled that role every game since. Prior to 2015, Henry started just two games - Western Carolina and Ohio State in 2014 - but in those nine combined starts he has proven to be worthy. He has collected at least one rushing touchdown in each start, and has notched double-digit scoring days four times. Through the air, he has hauled in 11 passes for 132 yards (12.0 yards per catch) with one receiving score.
HENRY FINDING PAYDIRT: Junior running back Derrick Henry entered Saturday tied for fifth nationally in rushing touchdowns with 10 and added two scores against A&M. Henry found the end zone three times in both of the first two games of the 2015 season to set career highs while adding one more score in the next five outings before tallying two against A&M.
