Bama Holds Off Aggies for Huge Road Win

Alabama did just enough to win in College Station Saturday and put itself in the SEC West driver’s seat.

The final was 26-20 and Jalen Milroe’s career-high 321 passing yards were a key reason.

“You come to college to play in games like this,” Milroe said. “I’m just glad we won. Roll Tide.”

“This is a great win,” Alabama coach Nick Saban added. “We overcame a lot of adversity. This is a tough place to play.”

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Alabama got a big early stop on fourth down to thwart the Aggies’ opening march when Dallas Turner forced a throw that the now-healthy Deontae Lawson batted down.

However, an offsides penalty forced a shanked punt by James Burnip that set the Aggies up at the Tjide 44. That set up a 22-yard Randy Bond field goal with 5:44 left in the opening quarter and the home team led 3-0.

The Tide responded when a Milroe connection with Jermanine Burton netted 45 yards and set up a tying 39-yard Will Reichard field goal. The game was knotted at three after a period.

That changed quickly when Milroe found a wide-open Isaiah Bond for 52 yards and the game’s first touchdown on the first play of the second stanza. Bama took its first lead at 10-3.

The Aggies tied the game again with 9:57 left in he half on a 22-yard pass from Max Johnson to his brother Jake.

A pass interference call against Bama’s Jalen Key kept a drive alive that resulted in a one-yard Le’Veon Moss run to put the Aggies up 17-10 with just over three minutes left in the half.

That score held until the half. Bama was already playing with injured punter James Burnip and safety Malachi Moore, but the Tide was set to receive the second half kick.

After the teams traded interceptions, Milroe guided Bama to a tie due to a 15-yard touchdown pass to Burton midway through the third quarter.

The Tide retook the lead when Milroe found Burton for 46 and the 19 yards and six points with 22 seconds remaining in the period. The third quarter expired with Alabama up 24-17.

After a Burton fumble, Bama blocked a field goal and Chris Braswell seemingly returned it for a touchdown, but a penalty wiped that out leaving Bama with the ball and a seven-point lead with 8:55 left.

The next key call went against the Aggies when Justin Eboigbe forced Johnson to intentionally ground the ball in the end zone for a safety With less than six minutes to go, Bama led by nine points and more importantly, two scores.

A late third down conversion on a catch by Jase McCellan helped ice the win, and Bama ran out the clock from there.

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