Games aren’t just played on paper, but if they were, many would be cashing tickets for the Alabama Crimson Tide four-score spread ahead of their Week 6 matchup with Texas A&M on October 8. Also, by that token, everyone that spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for a seat in Bryant-Denny Stadium should just recoup their loss on the secondary market and spend their night at a haunted house embracing spooky season instead.
Realistically, Saturday could be a spooky one for either SEC West rival — whose coaches have turned into bitter enemies after a nuclear two-day stretch in May after Nick Saban accused Jimbo Fisher of buying his 2022 recruiting class and the former Saban underling at LSU asked the media to dig into his long-time superior’s past. A blowout of the Aggies by the Tide, a result many expect, could push Fisher towards a buyout from Texas A&M’s impatient boosters. But a second consecutive loss for Nick Saban to Jimbo Fisher, this time on his home field? Unfathomable.
Both situations should spook out fans of either team. It could already be keeping Saban up at night. That, or he could just be trying to oversell a game that was once a marquee matchup on the calendar for Week 6 of college football but has since become skippable in the eyes of many. Either way, Nick Saban indicated that this game is far from a pushover during an October 5 media scrum with local reporters. “This is going to be a very challenging game for us.”
Paul Finebaum Already Counts Week 6 as a Texas A&M Loss
Nick Saban didn’t sound like a man overlooking his opponent this Saturday night on October 8. While it is one of the most valuable, Saban’s is certainly not the popular prediction for how things will unfold in Tuscaloosa.
Popular Birmingham-area sports talk radio host-turned-SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum, college football’s primary voice for ESPN, didn’t give Texas A&M a chance. “The good news for A&M, if there is any good news, is the schedule gets easy and manageable,” said Finebaum. “But so what? Saturday night will be the third loss of the season. You can manufacture 8-4 or 9-3. I don’t know where they are going to end up. But that’s not what Texas A&M is paying for.”
Finebaum was dismissive of Jimbo Fisher, essentially crediting his notoriety in the sport to Jameis Winston during their shared two seasons at Florida State. Despite the unpleasantries shared on May 18 from Saban and May 19 from Fisher, the Crimson Tide head coach still paid the Texas A&M head coach far more respect than Finebaum did.
“Inside College Football” Crew Feels Alabama Will Roll Texas A&M
There was just as little faith from CBS Sports’ “Inside College Football” crew on October 4 as Paul Finebaum displayed. There was, however, far more respect in the delivery from the panel as there was from Finebaum.
Well, at least from most of the “Inside College Football” crew.
This week in @SEConCBS football: Texas A&M faces No. 1 Alabama.
All our crew, @randycrossFB, @AaronTaylorCFB, @JonesN4mo and @CoachNeuheisel are taking @AlabamaFTBL over the Aggies. pic.twitter.com/XgdnG09qzg
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) October 5, 2022
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College Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Randy Cross cited the Crimson Tide’s impeccable home point differential for why Alabama would definitively win. “You look at the 3 home games Bama’s played, they’ve outscored opponents 173-10,” Cross noted. “It won’t be quite that lopsided, but Bama all the way.”
Fellow former NFL offensive lineman Aaron Taylor thinks it would also be a blowout of Texas A&M Saturday. “I think Bama’s going to win this game big as well,” said Taylor. “We know the SEC is a line-of-scrimmage league. Well, (Bama’s) defense leads the conference in rush defense, so Texas A&M is not going to be able to run there.”
Former Texas linebacker Brian Jones didn’t hold back the disrespect to his alma mater’s historical rival, Texas A&M. “I don’t care what they dial up for Milroe, Bama’s defense may score than the Aggies’ offense,” Jones said.
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Nick Saban Does Not Agree With Media on How Texas A&M Game Will Go