It was obvious that the Aggies were going to Evan Stewart in crunch time, but underwhelming play selection helped the Crimson Tide in a close ending.
With the game on the line against Alabama and three seconds left, Texas A&M ran a play which was to say the least underwhelming in its result.
You can be forgiven if you watched the play and thought that’s the best they got? It was a dud even if the Aggies were in a fire drill, two-minute drill situation, but when you add that there was a stoppage due to a penalty adding some space to perhaps call a more intricate play design it causes a serious scratching of the head. Even former A&M QB Johnny Manziel was displeased.
More than 100,000 people in the stands and millions watching at home could have probably assumed that ball was going to wide receiver Evan Stewart at the end. Stewart was targeted 18 times in the game and seven times on the final drive. He had eight catches total in the game and was certainly on a heater at the time, so forcing the ball to Stewart is certainly defensible. So much so that according to Terrion Arnold, the corner opposite Stewart at the end, the Aggies were indeed telegraphing where QB Haynes King was supposed to go with the ball.
“I’m thinking ‘don’t get beat.’ I’m like ‘ok, they’ve been going to Evan. Evan’s kinda hot.’ Using my clues and looking at their tendencies, I’m actually looking at Jimbo before the play,” Terrion Arnold said to reporters after the game, “and he's like, 'Evan, Evan, Evan, Evan.' I was like, 'OK, I'm ready.'”
Another former A&M signal caller added some helpful context as well, when Kellen Mond tweeted that he didn’t mind the play, but wasn’t thrilled at the execution.
Mond is referencing this play below in 2018 where the Aggies did indeed score a touchdown to the bottom of the screen where a receiver hooks up in the end zone and the ball’s thrown on time.
As you can see from the alternative angle on Saturday night, the route is ran a little differently and the timing is also different as Stewart makes a few extra feints to try to get Arnold to bite and doesn’t stay as deep in the end zone. Arnold holds his water, closes down and even if the play had been caught, it likely wouldn’t have been a touchdown either because Arnold’s positioning forces the throw to be put not into the end zone but in a much lower percentage position.
From the 2018 play, when the throw is made on time and in the right spot, you can see how it can be a fairly easy pitch and catch.
There are two sides to every play, and thankfully we have the defense’s due to Nick Saban’s excellent postgame breakdowns. Translating Sabanese helps us give a better picture of how the Tide played it as well.
“They scored a touchdown earlier on the same formation.”
This is plain English, but Saban’s referencing this play in the second quarter where as you can see, A&M is on the same hash and virtually the same field positioning and the same formation. The receiver at the top of the screen even runs the same route on Arnold.
“We were afraid of the quarterback possibly running the ball so we dabbed the front … 15 [Dallas Turner] is gonna pop out and mirror the quarterback.”
The Tide didn’t want King to beat him with his legs here so they got a little tricky up front. Initially lining Turner up over the right guard and then popping him out to change the picture post-snap and “mirror” which is similar to a QB spy. Where King went, Turner would have followed had he done some version of a QB keeper. They also “broke the pocket” and didn’t just rush straight-on with their remaining defensive linemen. Saban also mentioned No. 9, Jordan Battle, in the middle of the end zone to take away any route that broke over the middle on that side.
“Terrion is really pushing the guy outside which helps squeezing him off. He knows he’s getting help from 10 [Henry To’o To’o] or 2 [DeMarcco Hellams]”
If the running back Devon Achane had released out into the flat, Hellams would have covered him and To’o To’o would have widened out from his position instead of coming down near the line of scrimmage. Because Achane stayed put, To’o To’o came down, and Hellams was able to become the second coverage guy to help double-cover Stewart in the event that he ran an in-breaking route, or a fade to the back corner of the end zone.
But obviously it didn’t. The Tide were ready for something more complex, but A&M made life a bit easier on Bama with the game on the line.
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