Earlier this week, Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher vehemently insisted that the Aggies are taking Saturday’s game against No. 11 Alabama in stride, as if it were any other opponent.
Yeah, right (insert your own wink-wink here).
The Aggies, losers of only one game so far this year (in Miami), will host the Crimson Tide, also losers just once this year (at home to Texas), on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. Here’s the Associated Press preview of the game: No. 11 Alabama visits Texas A&M with each looking for a leg up in the brutal SEC West.
“What you’ve got to focus on is learning that you have to control yourself,” Fisher said, with actually a straight face. “There’s nothing we can do about Alabama. Alabama’s Alabama. They’re a great team. What we have to do is get prepared to play Alabama or whoever you’re playing, because each game is a big game … you prepare for them like you would anybody else.”
A&M fans have treated Alabama as their new Texas since their arrival in the Southeastern Conference a decade ago. They managed to win an early battle (the one that also likely won former quarterback Johnny Manziel a Heisman Trophy), even though ‘Bama also went on to win the national title that year.
The friendship between Fisher and Alabama coach Nick Saban is well-documented, but here’s something else that needs to be: the winner of this game has the inside track to the SEC West Division championship. Neither team has an in-conference loss, while Alabama already has beaten LSU, and LSU also lost to Ole Miss – the Tigers have two losses. A&M dealt Arkansas a second SEC loss last week.
The Aggies and Crimson Tide are battling Saturday for the top of the West division.
A&M’s last win over Alabama came in their last home game against them, a 41-38 win in 2021. Alabama beat A&M in Tuscaloosa in a thriller a year ago.
Fisher and his team lost their starting quarterback, Conner Weigman, a couple of weeks ago to a season-ending foot injury. But Max Johnson, the son of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson, has taken over and it’s not a drop-off. Johnson threw two touchdowns and an interception, and 210 yards, last week in the win over the Razorbacks.
Alabama’s quarterback issues have been one of the focuses of the media this season, as the Crimson Tide initially started Jalen Milroe, then waffled a bit against South Florida before naming Milroe the starter for the season. Milroe has been solid, although a little turnover-prone, including two costly ones in the loss to Texas.
For his part, Saban says he’s focused on Saturday’s game.
“We’re trying to play one game at a time,” Saban said. “We’re trying to improve our team. I can’t tell you where we’re ranked. I can’t tell you what the standings are. I think everybody kind of realizes the importance of every game that we play. The whole focus is how can we play better. How can we play good? How can we improve not worrying about some outcome-oriented thing that may happen two months from now?”
