It has been a relatively quiet week in Tuscaloosa. What had been expected to be one of the biggest Alabama football games of the season turned into what Nick Saban called a bit of a trap game. The Alabama Crimson Tide coach also said the Aggies are a dangerous team and in terms of defense, they will be the best the Crimson Tide has faced this season. The Kyle Field crowd will try to make up for any deficiencies in their team.
More on what to look for in the game is discussed below. First, a summary of Crimson Tide news from the past week.
- On Friday afternoon, Alabama Football added a verbal commitment from the nation’s top tight end. Based on the 247Sports Composite, Jaleel Skinner is a 4-Star and ranked as the No. 74 player overall in the 2022 class. Skinner comes close to the hybrid skills of current Tide player Jahleel Billingsley. He might even have the potential to be a tougher cover, but playing in high school at 220 pounds, he will need to add weight to his 6-foot-5 frame. The lead recruiter for Skinner is Charles Kelly. With now 16 verbals, the Crimson Tide has the No. 1, 2022 class.
- Also on Friday, Greg Byrne reviewed planned facility upgrades for basketball and football. Though no specific timeline was released, either a renovated Coleman Coliseum or a new arena comes next. Speaking about basketball facilities, Byrne said,
"We need to do it…Coleman is past its day and then some. We’d like to have a 10,000 seat arena. We’ve talked more about renovating Coleman but to be honest, we’re pretty open-minded on both right now. We’ve got our ideas on what a new arena would look like."
In a later phase of facility upgrades, after meeting the needs of basketball, Bryant-Denny will get elevators to the upper decks. There is no established start date for either basketball or the elevators.
- Though it is little more than rumors at this point, many opinions have James Franklin (Penn State) and Bill O’Brien as the leading candidates to be the next USC head coach. If it turns out to be O’Brien, Alabama football fans can expect Doug Marrone to follow O’Brien to Los Angeles.
Alabama Football vs. Texas A&M
CBS Sports must be somewhat disappointed the game chosen for prime-time viewing has lost some luster. Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jamie Erdahl will broadcast with a kickoff around 7:09 PM CST. In the moments before kickoff, there will not likely be any popcorn comments or tossed-away headsets.
The 100,000-plus in Kyle Field will not be deterred by the 3-2 and unranked record of their team.
Four particular things Crimson Tide fans can look for are:
- The play of Drew Sanders’ replacement at outside linebacker is something to follow. Whether it is freshman Dallas Turner or sophomore Chris Braswell, the Aggies running game will look to attack them. A worst-case rumor from Tuscaloosa is Sanders could miss up to four or five games.
- With Jase McClellan out, Trey Sanders will get more reps. It will be interesting to see how many snaps and whether the Tide staff ends its cautious approach to his playing time.
- With DeMarvin Leal, Jayden Peevy, Michael Clemons, Shemar Turner and Aaron Hansford, the Aggies can pressure quarterbacks. The Crimson Tide offensive line will get a strong challenge from the Aggies.
- Like the Tide, the Aggies have an Australian punter. Nik Constantinou has hit a 65-yarder this season and has an average of 47.78 yards.
According to WynnBET, Alabama Football is a 17.5 point favorite.
Check-in with Bama Hammer on Sunday. Along with coverage of Saturday night’s game, we’ll have a new SEC Power Ranking and a first look at the eight teams with the best College Football Playoff chances.