Alabama came into this weekend's matchup against Texas A&M severely beaten up. On the defensive line, that included missing the likes of Terrance Green and Desmond Umeozulu, along with Wolf LB Justin Hill, who remains far under 100%.
During the game, Alabama briefly lost London Simmons, too.
Kane Wommack needed his defense to get more pressure on Marcel Reed after struggling to get after the quarterback in back-to-back losing efforts.
Fifth-year senior Fatutoa Henry, a former JUCO transfer, stepped into the spotlight in the 31-20 win over Texas A&M. Henry finished with two sacks, both of which came in the fourth quarter.
Following Marshall Pritchett's touchdown reception to put Alabama ahead 24-20 in the final frame, it was Henry who got through and brought down Marcel Reed to turn a 2nd-and-9 into a 3rd-and-19. One play later, Alabama was off the field, and Keelon Russell was leading the offense down the field for another touchdown to push the lead to 11.
On the very next drive by the Aggies, Henry got into the backfield again and brought down Reed on a 3rd-and-3 for a critical sack that forced another Texas A&M punt that effectively put the game to bed.
FATUTOA HENRY WITH AMAZING EFFORT ON THIS SACK pic.twitter.com/sBwXEZH0rr
— ClutchWire (@ClutchWireHQ) October 24, 2026
Kalen DeBoer offers praise to Fatutoa Henry for his career performance vs. Texas A&M
In the postgame, DeBoer revealed that Henry was dealing with an injury throughout the week, and they weren't even sure that he was going to play. He was listed as questionable on Alabama's first availability report on Wednesday before eventually getting upgraded to probable. Thank goodness.
The walking wounded Crimson Tide were missing a lot of key pieces against the Aggies. But Henry was a piece that they needed to earn this win going into the bye week.
“I’m really proud of him," DeBoer said. "He had just an injury earlier in the week that I wasn’t even sure if he or what his production would be for us come Saturday, or come today. And so, I couldn’t be more proud of guys like him, and specifically him, since you asked, on the way that they just continue to push forward. And he did that exact thing all, really, the latter part of the week. Getting himself ready, knowing that we really needed him out there with just some guys that are still out, and kind of coming back with the edge position in particular.”
Henry may not be the most talented guy on Alabama's defense, but he's the guy a lot of players on the team can look to and try to emulate. Because Henry plays with a relentless motor every single snap that he's on the field.
On his second sack of Reed, he actually got knocked to the ground initially before getting up and rallying to the ball to bring him down in a key situation.
Henry is now up to 3.5 sacks on the season, which puts him tied with Yhonzae Pierre for the team lead.
Alabama should get healthier after the bye week. They could be back to a full complement of their edge depth heading to Baton Rouge.
Regardless, Henry has earned snaps moving forward, no matter who else is available.
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