The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to Kyle Field on Saturday night to take on the Texas A&M Aggies in an SEC matchup. The Crimson Tide are a perfect 5-0 (2-0) this season and are coming off a 42-21 home win over the 12th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
Sophomore quarterback Bryce Young had a phenomenal game as he went 20-of-26 for 241 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.
The Aggies are 3-2 (0-2) this year and are coming off a 26-22 home loss against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, where sophomore quarterback Zach Calzada finished going 12-of-20 for 135 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Jameson to the Rescue
The Alabama Crimson Tide offense has always been a good passing team as junior wide receiver Jameson Williams has been playing well this season as he has 17 catches for 364 yards (21.4 yards per reception) and three touchdowns.
Looking at his recent game against the Ole Miss Rebels, he finished with five catches for 65 yards but failed to find the end zone for the second time in the last three games. If Williams can figure out how to find the end zone here and produce numbers like he’s used to, the Crimson Tide will be in a great spot.
The Alabama Crimson Tide have been a great defensive team this year as they are giving up 18.2 points per game. In their previous game against the Ole Miss Rebels, they allowed 21 points on 291 total yards of offense (213 passing, 78 rushing).
The Crimson Tide did well at limiting the run as the Rebels had just 2.3 yards per rushing attempt. If Alabama can do just that, they will dominate here on the road.
Ground and Pound
The Texas A&M Aggies are a primary running football program, and it helps when you have a player like junior running back Isaiah Spiller in the backfield. So far this season, he has 68 carries for 445 yards (6.5 yards per carry) with a pair of rushing touchdowns while also adding 13 catches for 106 yards (8.2 yards per reception) with an additional touchdown reception.
Looking at the last game against Mississippi State, Spiller finished with 16 carries for 100 yards (6.3 yards per carry). If Texas A&M wants to be competitive here, they will need to have Spiller produce a lot more than he did in the last game.
The Texas A&M Aggies have been doing an incredible job defensively this season as they are allowing just 12.6 points per game. In their last game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they allowed 26 points on 438 total yards of offense (408 passing, 30 rushing).
Their biggest concern was allowing 6.9 yards per pass. If they can sure up the secondary and limit the passing production, they will be in a good spot.
Where to Bet
FanDuel has this game as Alabama favored by 17.5 points while DraftKings has it as an 18-point line. These teams play once per season, and last year the Crimson Tide won 52-24 for reference.
This Alabama offense is going to overwhelm the Texas A&M defense as the Aggies haven’t played many quality opponents thus far. I expect both running back Brian Robinson Jr to step up and have a big day on an Aggies’ defense that allows 142.6 rushing yards per game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide are 5-2 ATS in their last seven meetings, so go with the Crimson Tide to cover on the road with an 18-point spread.
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