No. 2 Alabama host No. 13 Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon in Week 5 of the college football season in the first of two matchups featuring programs ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Along with the rest of the SEC, both the Crimson Tide and the Aggies made their debut last week, with Alabama defeating Missouri 38-19, while Texas A&M was far from convincing in a narrow 17-12 win over Vanderbilt.
Here's all you need to know ahead of the all-SEC affair on Saturday.
- Kickoff time—Alabama hosts Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 3.
- TV channel—CBS
- Live stream—CBS Total Access, fuboTV and SlingTV.
- Odds—Alabama is a 17.5-point favorite with DraftKings and 47/50 to cover the spread, while the over/under line in terms of total points scored is set at 42. In moneyline terms, Alabama is a 1/10 favorite and Texas A&M is a 6/1 underdog.
- Series history—Alabama leads the all-time series 10-2 and has won the last seven games against the Aggies.
The bookmakers' favorite to win the SEC title, the Crimson Tide enters the season as the No. 2-ranked team in the AP Top 25 Poll behind only Clemson and began the post-Tua Tagovailoa era in convincing fashion.
Mac Jones threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns, Najee Harris rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns, while Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith combined for 223 receiving yards, two touchdowns and 16 receptions. More importantly for Alabama, a defense that had looked uncharacteristically porous last season held Missouri to just 4.4 yards per play in the season opener with Dylan Moses making an immediate on his return after missing the whole 2019 campaign.
The senior linebacker had four solo tackles and 0.5 sacks last week and could be a major headache for Texas A&M's offense. The Aggies racked up 372 total yards against Vanderbilt but scored just two touchdowns and a field goal, with Kellen Mond throwing for one touchdown and a modest 189 yards, as he completed 17 of his 28 passes. Last season, Mond averaged just 5.9 yards per attempt and a 55.6 completion percentage in games against Top-25 programs and his record against Alabama over three games reads 697 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions on a 56.7 percent completion ratio.
While the Aggies were unconvincing against Vanderbilt, the running game provided a some positive news for head coach Jimbo Fisher, as Isaiah Spiller rushed for 117 yards over just eight carries and Ainias Smith added a further 51 yards and a touchdown over 10 carries.
Texas A&M has not racked up more than 130 rushing yards in the last six meetings against the Crimson Tide and the running game must have an impact on Saturday if Fisher, who is 9-7 against SEC opponents in his first two seasons with Texas A&M, is to lead the Aggies to a first win against their SEC rivals since 2012.
Alabama start as the 17.5-point favorite. Since the Nick Saban era began in 2007 they have gone 16-10 against the spread in 26 games against SEC opponents when they have been favored by at least 17 points.
