Winners and losers from Texas A&M's fourth-quarter battle with Alabama in Tuscaloosa
Winner: Marcel Reed
The two interceptions mar the statline, but more than any other of his giveaways this season, you could well argue that these two were not his fault— the first was a great play by Dijon Lee combined with some inexperience from KJ Edwards showing up, and the second was a tipped ball. Other than that, though, Reed was dealing in the pass game better than we've seen at any other point this season against a power opponent.
There was a point where Brady Hart began to warm up, but as the sideline reporter mentioned, this was a result of him asking for the ball rather than the coaches tasking him to do so. Reed went back out and acquitted himself well the rest of the day, despite some key drops from the receivers.
This is the form that Marcel is going to have to keep for the Aggies to have a chance down the stretch of the year. A&M needs him to be able to at least manage the game through the air enough for them to reliably execute their real strength: the run game.
Loser: Aggie pass rush
As was discussed coming into this game, A&M faced a quarterback who held onto the ball for way too long, and too often, they were unable to capitalize on that with pressure. The pressure they did get played a huge role in the game, of course— the crazy interception that Russell threw early in the game was a result of pressure that he escaped— but it dried up in the fourth quarter, when they needed it most.
Marco Jones has been a good all-around defensive end, but he has not been the kind of sack artist that Cashius Howell was. Anto Saka has been hampered by injury and not lived up to expectations either. Noah Mikhail is beginning to show a little more when his number is called as a blitzer, but he can't do it alone.
This element of A&M's defense being lacking has cascading effects throughout the rest of the team. A&M can't hope to face down some of these teams they're facing in the last four games of the year if this piece of the team does not improve.
Winner: KJ Edwards
The man wearing no. 0 for the Aggies just keeps showing that he belongs every time he touches the ball— more than that, even, that he is a true star-level player. Unfortunately, he was limited by injury as well in this game; he was looking early on that he was about to put together a legacy game before he was sidelined.
His one mistake was not attacking the ball on that curl route that Dijon Lee returned for a pick-six— but that's the kind of thing he'll learn from. In the run game, he's been all but flawless; his vision and explosiveness are on display every single time he touches the ball.
He needs to get rested and be ready to go for the stretch run here for A&M. The run game is clearly their bread and butter this year, and he's the biggest piece of that, without a doubt. There's a bright future with Edwards in the backfield— and Carsyn Baker, too, for that matter— and that should excite Aggie fans.
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