Alabama got the response it needed against Texas A&M, and the offense finally looked like itself again in a 31-20 win.
After putting up just 27 points across the previous two games and managing only 201 yards in a rough 26-10 loss to Tennessee, the Crimson Tide found some rhythm through the air and finished with more than 300 passing yards. The biggest reasons for the turnaround were easy to spot on film: a revived RPO and play-action package, plus a tight end group that showed up in a major way.
That tight end room set the tone early. On Alabama’s first snap, Josh Ford came down with a 16-yard completion on a call that fit the moment perfectly.
Ryan Grubb’s opening script has taken heat, but this one had Texas A&M looking the wrong way from the start. The play also helped reopen the run game out of the I-form, which mattered as the day went on.
Ford added another catch later, a seven-yarder that moved the chains. Entering the game, his only other reception was a three-yard one-handed touchdown against South Carolina.
The tight ends ended up driving Alabama’s biggest moments. Two of the Crimson Tide’s second-half touchdowns came from that group, including the score that turned out to be the game-winner on a throw to Marshall Pritchett, who now leads the room with 18 receptions. Not long after, Keelon Russell delivered one of the best red-zone throws of his career to Kaleb Edwards for insurance.
That production fits a larger trend. The tight ends have become more central as the season has gone along, and Alabama’s offense looks different when they’re involved.
Last week in Knoxville, the room didn’t have that kind of impact, and the offense lost a dimension against Tennessee’s front. Against Texas A&M, the Tide got it back.
The other major ingredient was the RPO and play-action game, where Russell had both his best and worst moments. The second-longest play from scrimmage for Alabama was a 36-yard connection from Russell to Rico Scott, and the route work around him did plenty of the heavy lifting. Lotzeir Brooks sold the action well enough to freeze Dezz Ricks for just long enough, and Scott used the inside leverage to spring free.
Brooks also finished as Alabama’s No. 2 receiver with three catches for 73 yards. One of those came on a slant where he hauled in a low throw from Russell.
Another came in a sequence that showed how quickly Alabama was operating. The broadcast went to replay after Brooks was tackled at 8:23, but the offense was already back at the line and snapped the ball less than 20 seconds later.
Russell found Scott for an easy chunk gain on the next snap.
That kind of tempo and efficiency was a good sign. Russell wasn’t just relying on talent; he was moving the offense with sharper operation and better feel.
But the game also showed the other side of a young quarterback. On one RPO, Russell passed up what looked like a Trae'Shawn Brown touchdown and instead tried to force the ball elsewhere. Nobody was open, and he took a hard hit for it.
Even with the miss, Russell looked his best all season on RPO concepts. And that wasn’t the only encouraging throw. He also delivered a beautiful ball to Scott later in the game, one of the purest throws of the day.
There was another play late that stood out for a different reason. On Alabama’s final drive, Grubb ran a concept that should look familiar.
It was a variation of the play he used on third-and-seven against Georgia last year, when Ty Simpson hit Jam Miller to help seal Alabama’s 24-21 win in Athens. This time, Hill was in Miller’s spot, and because the play was on the far hash, there wasn’t room for him to get to the ball.
Still, it was a design worth revisiting.
Russell’s development, though, still comes with growing pains, and this was the third straight game where they showed up. He missed on a third-down chance where double slants were available at the bottom of the screen and instead went to a covered Hill rather than an open Brooks. The throw wasn’t terrible, but Alabama would have moved the chains if Brooks had gotten the ball.
There was also a play where Russell completely lost track of the line of scrimmage, another reminder that the learning curve is still there. With more experience, that should become a simple scramble instead of a mistake.
And when he did run, he took some punishment. Russell absorbed more hits than he has in weeks, and Texas A&M nearly got a late comeback chance after he came close to coughing the ball up on a scramble. As a general rule of thumb, a quarterback’s feet should never end up above his head during a play, and that moment probably earned him a reminder from the Alabama staff about sliding and cutting down unnecessary contact.
Then came the interception everyone who watched the game or saw social media probably expected to hear about. Russell forced one and threw a bad pick, and he owned it afterward, saying in his postgame press conference that he knew he shouldn’t have tried to force that ball. It was an ugly play, but one that was also hard not to laugh at live.
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