Quick thoughts from Alabama’s 59-0 win over Texas A&M.

What it means: The sky isn’t falling on the Crimson Tide. After a two-week slog against some very good defenses, Alabama righted the ship and dominated this game from the opening kick. The offense was simple, methodical and efficient to the max, the defense was all over everything the Aggies tried to do before the game was decided. In short, this game showed exactly how good the Crimson Tide can be.

What I liked: The offensive line’s dominant performance. Even after losing Austin Shepherd in the first half, the Crimson Tide line put on a vintage performance. Up until the midpoint of the third quarter, when pretty much all of the regular came out of the game, Alabama had put up more than 240 yards on the ground and was averaging 8.6 yards per carry. The rushing yards through three quarters were more than they had in the two previous games. Shepherd was said to be fine after leaving the game, and center Ryan Kelly should return to action next week. The Tide could be hitting their stride at just the right time to make a playoff push.

What I didn’t like: Blake Sims’ near pick-six. Alabama was clearly the better team, and Texas A&M didn’t stand a chance with the way the Crimson Tide played. However, this game could have gotten off to a much different start than it did. On the Tide’s first drive of the game, Sims threw behind his receiver at the goal line. The throw was so off-target that it caught A&M cornerback Deshazor Everett off guard. If the pass had been somewhat accurately thrown, it would have gone the other way and given the Aggies a touchdown lead to start the game. It was the third dropped interception Sims had thrown in two weeks, a habit he must break.

Key play: T.J. Yeldon’s first touchdown. The junior took a toss and patiently ran parallel to the line, waiting for a hole to open up. Once it did, he plowed right through A&M’s defense for the score. With that, the rout was truly on.

Who’s the man: Nick Saban. The Crimson Tide came out and played a near-flawless game. Plenty of credit goes to the players for executing everything to a T, but you have to think that Saban had a good deal to do with it. The coach, in his own words, was “pissed off” this week, and as a result his team came out and played like it. We hadn’t seen this kind of edge from the Tide so far this season, and if anyone had written them off as a playoff contender they’re reconsidering after this effort.

What’s next: Alabama travels to Neyland Stadium to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee is still looking for a signature win in the SEC going into their matchup with Ole Miss on Saturday evening.

 

Video: Blake Sims with a huge run