No. 13 Alabama Rallies Past Texas A&M 31-20 as Keelon Russell Throws Two Fourth-Quarter Touchdowns

Alabama has not lost three games in a row since 2007. That was Nick Saban's first season in Tuscaloosa, back when the dynasty was still a rumor and "The Process" was just a phrase on a whiteboard.

For three quarters on Saturday, that streak was in real danger. Then a fumbled snap on a play that was never supposed to be a play flipped everything.

No. 13 Alabama beat Texas A&M 31-20 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, scoring the last 14 points of the game after trailing 20-17 going into the fourth quarter. Keelon Russell threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns, Rico Scott had a career-best 156 receiving yards, and a homecoming crowd of 100,077 got to exhale after a two-week losing streak. Alabama is 6-2 and 4-2 in the SEC. Texas A&M is 4-4 and 1-4.

The worst possible start for Reed

Marcel Reed's afternoon began about as badly as a quarterback's afternoon can begin. He threw interceptions on Texas A&M's first two possessions, and the first one never made it back to the Aggies sideline. Dijon Lee Jr. jumped a throw intended for KJ Edwards and went 39 yards the other way for a touchdown with 11:24 left in the first quarter.

Some A&M fans wanted a quarterback change right then. Mike Elko did not budge. "I still believe he's our best option, so that's kind of why we stayed with him," Elko said afterward.

To Reed's credit, he settled down fast. He hit Mario Craver for a 9-yard touchdown to tie it at 7. Conor Talty's 47-yard field goal put Alabama back in front, and then Reed ran one in from 4 yards out in the second quarter to give the Aggies a 14-10 lead. A team that came in as a more-than-two-touchdown underdog was up in Tuscaloosa.

A messy first half

Alabama answered with a 3-yard Russell touchdown pass to Daniel Hill for a 17-14 lead, but the half got uglier from there. Defensive back Red Morgan was flagged for targeting after his helmet hit Reed in the face midway through the second quarter. The call was upheld, Morgan was ejected and threw his gloves on the way off, and Texas A&M picked up 15 yards. David Olano finished the drive with a 32-yard field goal, and it was 17-17 at the break.

The Tide were already short-handed in the secondary. Ryan Coleman-Williams missed a second straight game with a knee injury, Zabien Brown was out with a leg injury, and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. was suspended for violating team rules.

Olano hit again from 25 yards on A&M's first possession of the second half, and the Aggies led 20-17. Talty, who had made 15 straight field goals coming into the day, then missed from 42 yards for his second miss of the game. If you were an Alabama fan, the vibes were not great.

The snap that changed the game

Late in the third quarter, Texas A&M faced fourth-and-1 near midfield and lined up in a jumbo package with Reed under center. According to Elko and Reed, the plan was only to try to draw Alabama offside. Instead, the ball was snapped, it bounced off Reed's hands, and Alabama recovered at the A&M 45.

"Something was wrong with the snap," Reed said. "It was miscommunication and we didn't execute it the right way."

Elko took it on himself. "We've run that play a bunch over three years here," he said. "I don't have a great explanation. It's my job to have one."

It was the kind of mistake that does not show up as a turnover on most fans' mental scorecards but swings a game just the same. Alabama had a short field, momentum and a quarterback who had been waiting all day to get hot.

Russell finds his rhythm

Russell had not been sharp for three quarters. He completed just over half of his passes before the fourth and threw an interception in the first half. Kalen DeBoer said afterward that his young quarterback did a nice job of "reeling himself back in."

The fourth quarter was a different player. Scott got loose for a 38-yard catch to set up the go-ahead score, and on the first play of the fourth quarter, Russell found tight end Marshall Pritchett wide open for a 5-yard touchdown and a 24-20 lead.

The defense forced a three-and-out, and Russell went right back to work. His 8-yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Edwards made it 31-20 with 10:01 to play.

Russell went 5-for-5 for 68 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and finished 19-of-30. "He's made some really nice throws on some conversions there at the end of the game," DeBoer said.

Texas A&M had one more decision to make. Facing fourth-and-6 at its own 22 with under four minutes left and down two scores, Elko punted with all three timeouts in his pocket. Alabama ran out the clock.

The numbers that tell the story

The fourth-quarter split is the whole story. Alabama outgained Texas A&M 102-15 in the final 15 minutes, and A&M went 0-for-3 on third down in the quarter while Alabama converted three of four.

For the game, Alabama out-yarded the Aggies 379-278 and averaged 6.5 yards per play to A&M's 4.6, even though Texas A&M held the ball for 33:10. Turnovers were 3-1 in Alabama's favor. Scott's six catches for 156 yards did most of the heavy lifting in the passing game. Every number is in the box score (opens in a new tab).

The one number Alabama will not enjoy watching on film is 68. That is how many rushing yards the Tide managed, on the heels of 54 at Tennessee. Alabama averaged 182.2 rushing yards a game through its first six games and has averaged 61 over the last two. DeBoer was not hiding from it. "We've got to get back to work and make sure we're continuing to execute," he said.

Reed finished 14-of-21 for 163 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a rushing score. Craver caught six balls for 45 yards, and KJ Edwards led A&M with 43 rushing yards.

What it means

For Alabama, the scoreboard matters more than the style. Losses to Georgia and at Tennessee had put the Tide in a rough spot, and the chaos of Week 7 made the margin thin. At 6-2, the College Football Playoff conversation is still alive, and the next test is a big one: after an open week, Alabama visits No. 18 LSU on Nov. 7.

For Texas A&M, a team that made the College Football Playoff last season has now lost as many SEC games this year as it did in the previous two seasons combined. At 4-4, bowl eligibility is no longer a formality. The Aggies are off next week before a trip to South Carolina on Nov. 7, and Elko knows exactly where things stand. "One, we have to get a lot better," he said.

The last word

This was not a statement win. Alabama could not run the ball, its kicker missed twice, it lost a defensive back to an ejection, and it trailed entering the fourth quarter at home against a team below .500 in the conference.

But the Tide did the thing good teams do when they are not playing well. They waited for the other side to blink, and then they pounced. Reed summed up the Aggies' approach to fourth downs in one line. "The coach tells us we're going for it on fourth down, I'm going for it on fourth down," he said.

The trouble was, the one that mattered most was never supposed to be a go.

Sources: The Associated Press, FOX 10, FOX 26 Houston, KBTX, Saturday Down South, A to Z Sports, Field Level Media and FOX Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics.