The Texas A&M football team now owns the best win of the season in college football
The Texas A&M football team walked onto Kyle Field with extremely slim chances of taking home a win. Heck, I wrote about why they could upset Alabama countless times and I’m not sure if I truly believed it come game time.
That said, the Aggies made it clear that they meant business against the Tide, going up early and sticking around long enough to pull one of the biggest upsets in college football in recent memory. It was a complete game, with strong performances from every position group on the field.
That said, today I’m going to grade each position group based on their performance against Alabama.
Kicker/Punter: B-
The kicker/punter grouping actually gets a relatively low grade to kick things off, as I have a bone to pick with both guys. That said, neither of them actually did anything wrong — you’ll see what I mean.
For starters, Nik Constantinou had one of his punts blocked which led to an Alabama touchdown that could have easily been avoided. This wasn’t his fault to any capacity. Rather, this was a special teams blocking error and likely falls on the coaches for not preparing better blockers. Outside of that, Constantinou had an average night.
Seth Small had a strong night, making all five of his extra points and both of his field goals, which included the last-second game-winner. That said, that very same last-second game-winner made every single Texas A&M football fan in the world’s heart miss a beat, as it looked destined to miss left before curving right and sneaking in through the uprights.
Nick, if you’re reading this, I appreciate you. Just try to make it less stressful next time.
Tight Ends: A-
When I say tight ends, I’m basically referring to Jalen Wydermyer, who is the team’s primary player at that position. That said, Wydermyer finally had the strong game that we’ve been waiting for all season long.
The 6-5 potential 2022 first-round NFL Draft pick was the first Aggie to reach the endzone on the night via a 27-yard touchdown pass from Zach Calzada. It was something that we thought we’d be seeing more frequently this year and instantly got A&M off to a hot start offensively — something that they desperately needed.
Wydermyer would finish the game with three total receptions for 73 yards on the night, giving Calzada another strong option to throw the ball to. Wydermyer’s performance won’t turn any heads on a national scale, but his performance cracked the offense open and functioned as a well-needed catalyst.
Texas A&M football report card, Week 6 vs. Alabama
Offensive Line: B
All things considered, I could give Texas A&M’s offensive line an A+ considering the circumstances. Those circumstances involved losing a starting lineman in Luke Matthews, who underwent a season-ending surgery this week.
That said, the unit had a solid game. Nobody is going to be calling home about the offensive line’s performance, but they held up decently well in the run game and gave Zach Calzada enough time to settle in the pocket. The Aggies weren’t getting dominated by a three-man rush the way that they were against Arkansas, which was a good sign moving forward.
The return of Layden Robinson definitely helped this unit to a strong day. That said, there are improvements that can be made in the run game.
Defensive Line: A-
Texas A&M’s defensive line had a really good night. That said, the box score didn’t necessarily show it, which is why I’m only giving them an A-.
On the night, the Aggies as a whole managed to sack Bryce Young four times along with five QB hurries and four tackles for loss on the night. Again, the stats seem modest, but they were able to be disruptive enough up front early to keep Bryce Young on his heels.
Players like Micheal Clemons, DeMarvin Leal, and Jayden Peevy were disruptive all night and pushing back Alabama’s offensive line, even if it didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet. This was a good night from the unit, just not a very surprising one.
Texas A&M football report card, Week 6 vs. Alabama
Linebackers: A-
Again, the linebacking unit of this team was another position group that didn’t really show up on the stat sheet. That said, the Aggies’ second line of defense was all over the field making big plays on Saturday night.
Specifically, they accounted for 23 tackles on the night, a really solid number that was primarily stretched between Jimbo Fisher’s three main guys — Andre White, Aaron Hansford, and Edgerrin Cooper. Even though it’s hard to get excited about allowing a five-yard run, these guys were making the tackles that they needed to all night long.
Secondary: A
Alabama’s 369 passing yards will make you question how I graded the secondary at an A+. Again, on the stat sheet, it’s hard to say that this is a logical grade. That said, it was the eye test that earned Texas A&M this honor.
A&M was making timely plays in the secondary when they needed to. Take Demani Richardson’s interception as an example. The third-year safety may not have played the greatest overall game of his lifetime, but his early second quarter interception while Alabama was on the Aggies’ one-yard line virtually took seven points off of the board for the Tide.
The secondary was also extremely active in rushing the backfield, with three separate guys from this unit recording tackles for loss. Leon O’Neal specifically had a great night, recording a sack, a pass deflection, and a fumble recovery to go along with nine total tackles.
Texas A&M football report card, Week 6 vs. Alabama
Quarterback: A+
I don’t care that Zach Calzada threw an interception — he gets a perfect grade on the night. The same quarterback who fans were calling to be benched in the past few weeks just had a game that made him look like a Heisman contender. Heck, I’d make the argument that he outplayed the Heisman frontrunner opposite him in Bryce Young.
On the night, Calzada threw for 285 yards with three touchdown passes. He did have an interception, but it came on a clear miscommunication between himself and Ainias Smith on a broken play. It could have just been a really bad throw, but it’s one of those plays that seemed too bad not to be a miscommunication.
That said, the most important part of Calzada’s game was his toughness, both mentally and physically. Allow me to explain.
For starters, Calzada came into this game with no reason to have any sort of confidence. Here’s a video of him after a heartbreaking loss against Mississippi State that gave A&M two losses on the year.
Football is a sport. It’s a sport we put a lot of passion, money, and emotions into but these are college kids on the field at the end of the day. Although we are not happy with our record, we do and will always have love and respect for #10. pic.twitter.com/ISCjrWrSUL
— Barstool Texas A&M (@BarstoolTexasAM) October 3, 2021
Anybody who saw this video was rooting for Calzada — and Calzada would deliver. He played one of the most emotion-driven games of football I’ve ever seen in my life. With the odds stacked against him, he took down a team that hadn’t lost in 19 games.
Even after a leg injury in the fourth quarter that left him hobbling over to the sideline, Calzada got back up and re-entered the football game, rushing for a first down shortly after. The kid showed heart and there’s no way not to have deep respect for him after this one.
Texas A&M football report card, Week 6 vs. Alabama
Runningbacks: B+
It’s hard to give these runningbacks too high of a grade on the night as they didn’t really dissect Alabama’s defense as efficiently as expected. That said, both Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane had solid nights, compiling a combined 168 yards through the air and on the ground.
They each scored a touchdown, with Spiller’s coming on a rushing play. That said, Achane made a difference on special teams, where he returned a kickoff for a touchdown at the perfect time.
Momentum seemed destined to shift after Alabama blocked Nik Constantinou’s punt and scored a touchdown, slimming the Aggie lead to seven points. On the ensuing kickoff, Achane showed off his track star speed by making a house call 96 yards to the other endzone.
Wide Receivers: B-
It’s hard to say that A&M’s receivers had a bad night, but they had arguably the worst game of any unit on Saturday. This is more of a testament to how well-rounded A&M’s performance was against Alabama than anything else.
Four listed wide receivers caught passes from Zach Calzada. Those four were Ainias Smith, Jalen Preston, Chase Lane, and Demond Demas. Of those four receivers, three of them combined accounted for only 39 total yards and five total receptions. The other six receptions, 85 yards, and two touchdown receptions went to Ainias Smith.
Smith had a great night through the air, catching a pass that put A&M up two scores early in the game and after the Aggies went down in the fourth quarter, Smith caught the ball that tied the game at 38.