Keelon Russell led Alabama football on two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, and the Crimson Tide rallied to defeat the Texas A&M Aggies, 31-20, Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Week 8.
Alabama improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play. Texas A&M fell to 4-4 and 1-4 in SEC play, but not before giving Kalen DeBoer's 13th-ranked Crimson Tide a full fourth-quarter fight.
It was a game Alabama couldn't afford to lose after falling to Georgia and Tennessee in back-to-back weeks. Russell, coupled with a late surge by the Crimson Tide defense, made sure it didn't come to that.
Russell fired a 40-yard completion to receiver Rico Scott on the final play of the third quarter to set up first-and-goal at the 5-yard line. Alabama's first-year starting
quarterback then hit tight end Marshall Pritchett in the back of the end zone on the first play of the fourth to give the Tide the lead for the first time in the second half.
After a three-and-out stop and two big plays by defensive lineman Fatutoa Henry, Russell went right back to work after Alabama benefited from a short Texas A&M punt. Russell found tight end Kaleb Edwards for a 16-yard gain to the Aggies' 25-yard line. A pass interference call on a throw into the end zone intended for Scott resulted in first-and-goal.
Alabama capped a five-play, 55-yard drive with an 8-yard Russell touchdown pass to Edwards on third-and-goal for a 31-20 Crimson Tide lead with 10:01 left.
Alabama's defense closed the game strong. After Marcel Reed fumbled on a fourth-and-1 attempt late in the third quarter, Kane Wommack's unit forced three consecutive Texas A&M punts in the fourth. Alabama finally played tighter coverage, and its defensive line delivered.
Russell ended the game 9 of 11 for 150 yards. He finished 19 of 30 overall with 311 yards and three touchdowns, plus an ugly interception in the second quarter. Alabama overcame that turnover and two missed field goals from kicker Conor Talty. A big reason why was the play of Scott, often overlooked as a weapon in Alabama’s receiver room entering the season, but a player that had a career day with six catches for 156 yards.
After the game, Texas A&M coach Mike Elko met with reporters to discuss his team's loss to the Crimson Tide. Here's what the Aggies' coach said:
Texas A&M coach Mike Elko reflects on close loss to Alabama football
"I think the story on offense is obviously the start, the two turnovers leading to seven points. We put it together for a little while after that and then just really couldn't get anything going in the second half. Then got to a point again where we were down and trying to chase a game. We're not built to do that, and that's on me as a coach. We're not where we need to be at all in that regard.
"Defensively, extremely poor play in the secondary, extremely poor eye discipline, extremely poor everything. Too many explosive plays, too many uncontested explosive plays. That was the story of the game."
Mike Elko blames Aggies player for botched fourth-and-1 play in own territory
Texas A&M faced fourth-and-1 from its own 45-yard line with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter and leading by three. Marcel Reed fumbled the snap and Alabama's QB Reese recovered to give the Crimson Tide a shorter field.
Elko said the ball shouldn't have been snapped and explained:
"We didn't call a play. I don't know why we snapped the ball. We were trying to draw them offsides and the center just snapped the ball."
Asked if he'd thought about taking a timeout, Elko said:
"No, I didn't think about taking a timeout. We've run that play a bunch over three years here. Yeah, I don't have a great explanation. I need to have one (but) I don't have a great explanation. It's a three-year starter at center and we snapped the ball on a play that we didn't even call."
Mike Elko explains absence of star Texas A&M running back after first quarter
Texas A&M's KJ Edwards had eight carries for 43 yards but only three rushes after the first quarter. Elko explained why:
"Yeah, he got banged up. He got leg-whipped and so he was trying to fight through it. We got him back a little bit in the second half, but he had a deep contusion that we were trying to work out and just couldn't get worked out. Obviously he's our back and we went with him and he was running really well. At some point, I think it was toward the end of the first half if I remember right, he got leg-whipped on a run and he just couldn't get it loose."
Texas A&M coach defends decision to punt late in game with Aggies trailing Alabama
Texas A&M faced fourth-and-5 from its own 22-yard line with 3:42 remaining and already trailing 31-20. Why didn't the Aggies go for it?
Elko said:
"At that point, we were really stopping the run, and Marcel had just gotten walloped. It just felt like we had a better shot of going out and trying to stop them, call the timeout and go than we did converting with how we were holding up (in protection). At that point, it just didn't seem like we were in a position to convert that."
'Really poor decision-making' leads Mike Elko to think about benching Marcel Reed
Backup Brady Hart was seen warming up on the sidelines after Reed threw two interceptions early against the Crimson Tide defense. Hart never entered the game and Reed finished 14 of 21 for 163 yards and a touchdown, plus 23 rushing yards and a score.
Elko said the Aggies "absolutely" considered benching Reed.
"There was for sure a thought. Obviously it couldn't continue to go that way and we were ready to do that, and then Marcel went back out and played probably his best football for the rest of the first half. That was good to see."
Elko added that Reed's interceptions were "just really poor decision-making."
Texas A&M coach Mike Elko discusses Alabama receiver Rico Scott after career day
"Obviously he's an elite receiver," Elko said of the third-year Crimson Tide playmaker. "He's phenomenal. For us to let him get as loose as he did and have so many uncontested yards is very disappointing."
Did Aggies' quick passing game lead to early Alabama interceptions?
After Lee's pick six, sophomore Chuck McDonald III picked off Reed on the Aggies' next drive. It was McDonald's first career interception and first meaningful snaps in SEC play.
"I think a lot of those were RPOs. Just with the way they were playing them, a lot of them got into (passing) situations, so I don't know that we were necessarily calling -- they were quick passes obviously, but I don't think we were calling a lot of drop-back quick passes."
What Mike Elko saw on pick six by Alabama defensive back Dijon Lee Jr.
"The interception on the first play, the pick six, that was a drop-back pass and that was just a misread and a bad throw by the quarterback," Elko said.
Texas A&M coach says Aggies were more physical against Alabama
"I thought from a physicality standpoint, that was something that we really tried to emphasize. I do think that that part helped us, but again, the turnovers and the lack of execution just killed the whole day."
Watch Elko's full postgame press conference below.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All times Central.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles (W, 50-36)
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (W, 49-18)
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs (W, 56-23)
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs (L, 20-17)
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers (L, 26-10)
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies (W, 31-20)
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers, TBA
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores, TBA
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 6-2 overall, 4-2 SEC.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: What Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said about Alabama football after loss
