Football vs. Texas A&M Postgame Notes

GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for today's game vs. Texas A&M were Reuben Foster, Eddie Jackson and Cam Robinson.

FIRST TIME STARTERS: Junior safety Hootie Jones made his first career start for Alabama today vs. Texas A&M. Jones is the 14th Alabama student-athlete to make his starting debut this season.

STREAKING: With the win over Texas A&M, Alabama owns the longest winning streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision, having won 20 consecutive games dating back to last season (last loss: Sept. 19, 2015 vs. Ole Miss). The 20-game streak is the fourth-longest in school history (the record is 28 games, accomplished twice: 1991-93 & 1978-80) and is the longest under the direction of head coach Nick Saban (previous long- 19 games 2009-10). During the current stretch the Crimson Tide has won nine games at Bryant-Denny Stadium, seven road games and four consecutive neutral-site games while going 13-0 against teams from the Southeastern Conference. During the streak, Alabama has outscored its opponents by 462 points (738-276; 36.9-13.8), an average of 23.1 points per game.

SABAN'S HOME RECORD: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 119-19 (.862) in home games during his college head coaching career. He owns the advantage at every stop he has made during his collegiate coaching career, including a 60-7 (.896) mark while at Alabama. Saban has won 31 of his last 33 contests at Bryant-Denny Stadium and has lost back-to-back matchups only once, with consecutive losses coming at the end of the 2007 season (LSU and ULM).

SABAN'S SEC HOME RECORD: Alabama head coach Nick Saban owns a 48-10 (.828) all-time record when playing in a Southeastern Conference game at home, going 16-4 (.800) during his time at LSU and owning a 32-6 (.842) record at Alabama. While with the Crimson Tide, Saban has posted four perfect home SEC slates and has not lost more than one home conference game in any season other than 2007 (two losses). All six of his losses at home have been by seven points or less with half of those by three or fewer. Under Saban, Alabama has outscored its SEC home opponents 1,230-553 (32.4-14.6 points per game) and has limited the opposition to 14 points or less on 23 occasions, including six shutout victories.

SABAN VS. SEC OPPONENTS: Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban owns a 100-26 (.794) career record in 126 games against SEC opponents. While at Alabama, he has compiled a 70-13 (.844) record versus conference foes, and is outscoring opponents by a staggering 3,309-1,297, or 39.9-15.6 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.

SABAN VS. AP TOP 25: Alabama's 33-14 win over No. 6 Texas A&M today gives head coach Nick Saban 68 career wins vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams, good for third all-time. Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno leads the list with 86, four victories ahead of Florida State's Bobby Bowden (82). Paul "Bear" Bryant is fourth at 66. Recently retired Duke, Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is fifth at 64. Saban's winning percentage against AP ranked teams (68-37, .648) tops Bryant (.592), Bowden (.557), Spurrier (.529) and Paterno (.512).

SABAN MOVING UP SEC WINS LIST: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is quickly moving up the charts for victories in SEC regular-season games against conference opponents with 99 following the win over Texas A&M on Oct. 22. His 99 wins moves him into a tie for sixth with Auburn's Shug Jordan and Tennessee's Phil Fulmer on the league's list of conference wins. Each coach ahead of Saban on the list, except for recently retired South Carolina and Florida head coach Steve Spurrier, is in the College Football Hall of Fame. Paul "Bear" Bryant tops the list with 159 conference wins at Kentucky (1946-53) and Alabama (1958-82). Spurrier is second with 131 league wins followed by Johnny Vaught (Ole Miss, 106), and Vince Dooley (Georgia, 105). Saban ranks first in league history in SEC regular season winning percentage at .792 (99-26). He is second in league history in winning percentage in all games at .821 (156-34). Saban is eighth on the SEC career wins list at 156. Tennessee's Robert Neyland is seventh at 173.

101-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: Under head coach Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide is 101-6 (.943) when leading at the half. Alabama led Texas A&M, 13-7, at the half on Oct. 22, and has held the lead in 18 of its last 23 games dating back to the start of the 2015 season, including seven of eight games this season.

Defensive Notes

ALLEN MOVING UP CAREER SACK LIST: Jonathan Allen's first quarter sack of Trevor Knight was the 24th of his career, putting him one shy of Kindal Moorehead (1998-2002) for second all-time at Alabama. The Crimson Tide's all-time leader for career sacks is Derrick Thomas (1985-88) with 52.0.

WILLIAMS INTO TENTH ON ALABAMA CAREER SACK LIST: With two quarterback sacks on Saturday against Texas A&M, Alabama's Tim Williams ran his career sacks total to 18.5. That moves him into 10th place, one ahead of John Copeland (1991-92) on Alabama's career sacks list.

TIDE LEADS THE NATION IN DEFENSIVE TOUCDHOWNS: Jonathan Allen's 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the third quarter is Alabama's ninth defensive touchdown this season, which leads the nation. Alabama has now scored at least one defensive touchdowns in its last four games. The score is Allen's second fumble return for a touchdown this season (75 yards vs. Ole Miss on Sept. 17). Allen now has 104 return yards on his two touchdowns. Seven different defensive starters have scored the nine touchdowns.

Offensive Notes

HURTS TOUCHDOWNS: With two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown today, Jalen Hurts has been responsible for 20 touchdowns this season (11 passing, 9 rushing), tying him for ninth on the Alabama single-season list with Mark Ingram (2009, 17 rushing/3 receiving) and Greg McElroy (2010, 19 passing/1 rushing).

HOWARD SETS NEW CAREER HIGH IN RECEPTIONS: With eight catches for 69 yards vs. Texas A&M on Saturday, tight end O.J. Howard has established a new single-game best for receptions. Howard's previous career high was seven vs. Tennessee in 2015.

RIDLEY MOVING UP TOUCHDOWN RECEPTIONS LIST: Calvin Ridley's four-yard touchdown reception from Jalen Hurts was the 12th touchdown catch of his Alabama career, tying him for ninth in Alabama history with Kevin Norwood (2010-13). Keith Brown (2004-07) and David Bailey (1969-71) are next on the Tide list with 13 each. Amari Cooper's 31 touchdown catches is the Alabama career record.

FIRST HALF POINTS: Adam Griffith's 32-yard first quarter field goal today extended Alabama's first half scoring streak to 126 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. Entering today's game, Alabama owned a 110-16 record during the current streak.

SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: Alabama's school record consecutive games scoring streak was extended to 206 games with Adam Griffith's 32-yard field goal in the first quarter today. Alabama was last held off the scoreboard in a 9-0 loss to Auburn on Nov. 18, 2000.

Special Team Notes

GRIFFITH NOW FIFTH ON CAREER FIELD GOAL LIST: With two first-quarter field goals, senior placekicker Adam Griffith moved into sole possession of fifth place on the Alabama career field-goal list at 46, breaking a tie with Jeremy Shelley, who had 44 from 2009-12. Van Tiffin (1983-86) is fourth with 59 career field goals. Leigh Tiffin (2006-09) is Alabama's career leader with 83.

NON-OFFENSIVE TDs IN THE SABAN ERA: Jonathan Allen's 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the third quarter against Texas A&M is the 58th non-offensive touchdowns of the Nick Saban era and the 12th for Alabama this season, which leads the nation and extends the single-season record in the Saban era. Alabama has scored at least one non-offensive touchdown in each of its last 10 games – four interceptions, five fumble returns, three punt returns and a kickoff return – dating back to the CFP semifinal vs. Michigan State on Dec. 31, 2015.

Texas A&M Notes

About the Game

Texas A&M took a 14-13 early in the third quarter against Alabama but the Crimson Tide scored the final 20 points of the game to earn a 33-14 victory.
The loss was the Aggies' first since last year's bowl game and dropped their overall record to 6-1 and their SEC worksheet to 4-1.
The Aggies fell to 2-12 all-time in games against the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25.

Notables

Texas A&M entered the game as one of the FBS leaders in QB sacks and tackles for loss and that trend continued against the Crimson Tide as the Aggies generated a trio of QB sacks and 12 total tackles for loss. The 12 tackles for loss were the second-most by the Aggies in 2016.
Junior DE Myles Garrett finished with a game-high 3.5 tackles for loss and a QB hurry while also chipping in a season-high seven tackles. Garrett now has 43.0 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in his 31-game career at Texas A&M.
Senior LB Shaan Washington was the Aggies' team leader in tackles for the third time this season with 11 stops, including seven solo tackles, and he also contributed a QB hurry.
Sophomore WR Christian Kirk, who entered the game as the SEC leader with 40 catches, reeled in a game-high nine catches for 58 yards and scored on a 25-yard catch early in the third quarter. It was the 12th TD catch of Kirk's career and moved the sophomore into the Aggies' career top 10 list after just 20 games.
Senior WR Josh Reynolds' second-quarter TD catch was the 23rd of his career. He is one TD behind Ryan Swope, who is No. 2 on Texas A&M's career list. Jeff Fuller holds the school record with 34 from 2008-11.
Senior SS Justin Evans, who was named the Midseason National Defensive Player of the Year by NFL.com, logged his fourth pickoff of the season with an INT on the final play of the first half against the Crimson Tide.
Junior RB Keith Ford was just off his season high for rushing with 62 yards on 15 carries. Ford had a season-high 65 yards in the season-opener vs. UCLA.
With three more inside-the-20 punts against Alabama, junior punter Shane Tripucka now has 17 after seven games.
Returning to action after missing two games was junior WR Ricky Seals-Jones, who contributed a receiving first down with an acrobatic 25-yard catch.
The Aggies rushed for 114 yards and passed for 164 yards against the Crimson Tide, marking the first time this season that the team failed to reach the 200 yard plateau in rushing and passing. Coming into the game, the Aggies were averaging 274.3 rushing and 258.5 passing and were the only FBS team that had rushed and passed for at least 200 yards in every game.
Alabama ran nine offensive plays on their initial series of the game on its way to a field goal. It was the most plays allowed by the Aggie defense on the opponent's first offensive drive (previous high was four plays by UCLA in the season-opener).
Junior nickelback Donovan Wilson was ejected for targeting in second quarter on an interception return by senior LB Claude George. It was the first INT of George's career.

Game Captains, 12th Man

Game captains for the Aggies were graduate transfer QB Trevor Knight, junior WR Ricky Seals-Jones, senior LB Shaan Washington and junior DE Myles Garrett. Also a captain without going to midfield was senior DB Alex Sezer Jr. The Aggies won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half.
The Aggies' 12th Man representative was sophomore LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his seventh straight start. A former walkon, Gillaspia was awarded a scholarship at the end of fall camp.

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