Hello and Roll Tide!

Alabama returns home to host the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday October 24th. The Tide look to snap a two-game losing streak after a dismal effort against Tennessee. This is the second time under Kalen DeBoer that Alabama has two regular season losses entering week 8. This happened once under Saban (2007) and two conference losses before week 8 is the first time since 2006 (pre-Saban). This is a new era of college football, but Kalen continues to have issues on the road in games that Alabama should win. The Tide need to get back on track against Texas A&M. All of their goals are still achievable. Players have described this game as “Round 1” of the playoffs, since they cannot afford another loss this season. Hopefully this translates to a sense of urgency from the first snap. Below are injury updates, a Texas A&M preview, and Week 8 Storylines. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

  • Ryan Coleman-Williams, Dez Zulu, and Terrance Green remain OUT
  • Racin Delgatty was upgraded to QUESTIONABLE
  • EJ Crowell and Zabien Brown are QUESTIONABLE
  • Fatuatoa Henry is PROBABLE

Week 8 Preview: Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M is led by 3rd year head coach Mike Elko. Elko and the Aggies were 11-2 (7-1) last season, reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. After a magical year, they slipped out of the gate in 2026 and enter week 8 with a 4-3 (1-3) record. All 3 losses have come to ranked SEC schools and were by 2 or more scores. Last season A&M benefitted from scheduling luck as they played 7 of the bottom 9 SEC schools. The script has been flipped on the Aggies in 2026 who play Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. So far, the increase in competition has been difficult for A&M who look to avoid a 4th loss. Texas A&M’s offense is led by returning starting quarterback Marcel Reed. Last season, Reed passed for 3,169 yards (244 ypg) with 25 touchdowns and rushed for 493 yards (38 ypg) with 6 touchdowns. In 2026, Reed’s passing yards per game have decreased to 175 and rushing yards per game decreased to 25. His completion percentage dropped from 62.1% in 2025 to 55.7% this season. The quarterback is the leader of the offense and Reed’s regression is a large part of their struggles so far this year. To make matters worse, Reed will likely be without star wide receivers Mario Craver, Terry Bussey, and Kelshaun Johnson. Their top receiving option on Saturday will be Alabama transfer Isaiah Horton who leads the Aggies with 280 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. A&M has a mediocre rushing attack, ranked 61st nationally, averaging 161 yards per game on the ground. Their leading back KJ Edwards is averaging a solid 6.7 yards per game. A&M takes a committee approach, similar to Alabama, and other backs Carsyn Baker and Jamarion Morrow are averaging only 4.1 yards per carry. The offense has plenty of talent but have been unable to find their identity this season. The Aggie defense is ranked 26th nationally allowing 17.1 points per game. The splits however show a rather bi-polar defense: Texas A&M is allowing only 6.75 ppg in Wins and 31 ppg in Losses. Looking just at Power-4 opponents, Texas A&M allows 24 ppg. Which defense will show up on Saturday? Texas A&M allows only 164.1 passing yards per game (10th nationally) without a pass rush. A&M are dead last in the SEC with only 5 sacks. Teams have found success against A&M on the ground, rushing for 141.7 yards per game. The top-2 tacklers for A&M are linebackers Ray Coney and Noah Mikhail, followed by safeties Marcus Ratcliffe and Dalton Brooks. The defensive line has not been effective, allowing running backs into the second level where they are met by linebackers and safeties. Each of these safeties have an interception and the team has 5 total. A&M has returned two interceptions for a touchdown this season. So far, Texas A&M’s shining star has been their kicker David Olano. Olano is a perfect 11 for 11 on field goals. Impressively, he is 4 for 4 on kicks from 50+ yards out, with a long of 57. While the offense has struggled, they don’t have to move the ball too far to be inside Olano’s field goal range.

Week 8 Storylines:

The Playoffs are NOW – Alabama needs to enter this game with a sense of urgency. One loss likely means that they would miss the 12-team playoff for the second time in 3 years. The roster is finally full of players that Kalen has identified to fit his scheme. This is the time to win. It is too early to throw the season away.

Let Keelon play – Over the last two games, Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has not helped Keelon be successful. Grubb got drunk on the deep ball against Mississippi State and is letting his ego run wild. Against both Georgia and Tennessee, Grubb continued to call deep shots without any easy dump offs for Keelon. This became obvious so both teams blitzed, not allowing Keelon enough time to make a play. Grubb needs to leave his ego at the door and get back to calling simpler plays. Take shots when you can, but also protect your quarterback and make sure not to damage his confidence.

Ground ‘n’ Pound – Alabama’s run game made a resurgence this season, but seems to have taken the back seat during the two game losing streak. Alabama averaged 5.6 yards per carry against Georgia, yet Grubb stopped calling run plays in the second half. Then against Tennessee, Grubb only gave running backs the ball 14 times. Last season we saw what happens when you do not have a run game. Ty Simpson was overwhelmed as the sole provider on offense; in the last two week we saw that exact same thing with Keelon. Quarterbacks need support from the run game. Run the damn ball!

What thoughts do you have going into this game? How can the Tide turn it around? If you know anyone interested in joining the newsletter, send their info my way.

Roll Tide! -Jake