HOWDY! That's not me shouting at you, friend. That's the official greeting of Texas A&M University, and if you're going to read a column by an Aggie, you're going to get greeted properly. I'm Colt Wendeborn, petroleum engineering grad, lifelong member of the 12th Man, and a man who has never once explained a tradition without then explaining the tradition behind the tradition.
This week we have a lot to explain. We just had a perfect Saturday at Kyle Field, and now we head east to Tuscaloosa, where a famous program is having the strangest October it's had in almost two decades. So sit up straight, stand when it's time to stand, and let me yell this.
Part 1: FORTY-ONE TO NOTHING
Texas A&M beat The Citadel 41-0 last Saturday at Kyle Field, in front of 101,052 people. I'll be honest about the opponent, because that's the Aggie way. The Citadel came in 2-5 and is a good, proud program at the FCS level. But a shutout is a shutout, and this one did exactly what our team needed it to do.
We scored a touchdown on all four of our first-half drives. FOUR FOR FOUR. Jamarion Morrow, who came into the day with one rushing touchdown all season, punched in three of them, from four yards, one yard and one yard. That's six yards combined, folks, scored with the efficiency of a man parallel parking a pickup on the first try. Sandwiched in there, Marcel Reed hit Aaron Gregory for a 37-yard touchdown. We led 28-0 at halftime.
Reed finished 8 of 13 for 130 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, then handed the second half to the backups. Brady Hart threw a 12-yard touchdown to Gregory in the fourth quarter, and David Olano added field goals from 23 and 20 yards. KJ Edwards ran 13 times for 116 yards, 8.9 a carry. Gregory caught six passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns. TK Norman added five catches for 88. We gained 501 yards and didn't turn it over once.
And the defense? The Citadel finished with 183 yards and 43 passing. Tawfiq Byard made seven tackles with 1.5 for loss, and Ray Coney added seven more. The AP says it's our second shutout of the year, after 50-0 over Missouri State in the opener, and the first time since 1993 that A&M has posted two shutouts in one season. I'll yell that one: NINETEEN NINETY-THREE.
Tradition Explainer: Why We Stand
Here's why you'll see every Aggie student standing the whole game Saturday. In 1922, at the Dixie Classic, coach Dana X. Bible realized one more injury would leave him without a backfield player to send in, so he called a sophomore basketball player named E. King Gill down from the stands to suit up and stand ready. He never had to go in. But he was ready. Ever since, the student body stands for the entire game to show it's ready, too. That's the 12th Man. Now you know. And now you know why we're tired on Sunday.
The Honest Report
I'm an engineer, so I deal in tolerances, and I'll tell you where we're out of spec. We're 4-3 and 1-3 in the SEC. Kentucky beat us 31-21 at Kyle Field. We lost at LSU 35-6 and at Missouri 27-6. Our offense averages 356.9 yards a game, 97th in FBS, and our passing game averages 195.7 a game, 103rd. That is what it is. But the Citadel game showed what happens when the big guys up front get a push: 264 rushing yards. That's the blueprint.
Part 2: Tuscaloosa, We Have Arrived
Saturday, 3:30 Eastern, ABC, Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama is No. 13 in the AP poll and 5-2. We are 4-3. Nobody outside College Station expects much from us. Good. We like it that way.
Let me be gracious, because my mama is reading. Alabama beat Florida State 50-36, won at Kentucky 45-17 and scores 39.3 points a game, 12th in FBS. Keelon Russell has thrown for 1,746 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. Caleb Woodson leads the Tide with 53 tackles. Those are good football players.
Now. Let's discuss the last two weeks in Tuscaloosa.
Georgia beat Alabama 20-17 at Bryant-Denny. Then Tennessee beat Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville. According to the AP, that's the first time the Tide has lost consecutive regular-season games since 2007. TWO THOUSAND SEVEN. Against Tennessee, Alabama gained 201 yards, ran for 54, went 2 of 13 on third down and turned it over four times. The Vols' fourth-quarter touchdown drive lasted nine minutes and 32 seconds. Folks, the elephants are nervous.
Who to Watch
Our defense vs. their passing game. We allow 164.1 passing yards a game, 10th in FBS, and 306.6 yards a game overall, 29th. Opponents convert just 29.8% of their third downs against us, 11th in the country. Alabama just went 2 of 13 on third down in Knoxville. I'm not saying the math is simple. I'm saying the math is friendly.
Ray Coney, linebacker: 36 tackles, our team leader. Marco Jones: two sacks, our leader there. Somebody needs to say howdy to Russell early, and politely, and often.
Marcel Reed, quarterback: 1,227 yards, seven touchdowns. He needs to be efficient, the way he was against The Citadel, and let the run game carry the freight.
KJ Edwards, running back: 317 yards on 47 carries this year, and 116 of those came last Saturday. Alabama allows 107 rushing yards a game, 30th, so this is a real test.
The red zone. This is the one I've circled in red pen. The AP preview says Alabama's defense allows opponents to score on 95.7% of red-zone trips, 134th in FBS. If we get inside the 20, history says we come home with points. Our kicker, Olano, didn't miss last Saturday. Bring him.
A Brief History Seminar
I'll be honest: Alabama leads the series 13-3, according to CollegeFootballData.com, and the last two meetings were four-point Tide wins. But I'll remind everybody about 2021, when the Aggies upset No. 1 Alabama 41-38 at Kyle Field. The 12th Man stood for that whole game, and some of us are still standing.
And here's a fact I just enjoy. Before this month, Alabama hadn't lost two straight regular-season games since 2007. The Aggies would be delighted to help the Tide find out what three feels like.
Twelfth Man Report: A Tale of Two Towns
College Station. The 2020 census counted 120,511 people in College Station, and since 2021 Texas A&M has enrolled the largest student body in the United States. Kyle Field seats 102,733, the largest stadium in the SEC and the largest in Texas. The night before a home game, at midnight, we hold Midnight Yell Practice, where the 12th Man practices its yells and sings the War Hymn, led by five student Yell Leaders and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. Then there's Northgate, the district just north of campus with restaurants, churches and a whole lot of maroon, and Reveille, our Rough Collie, who holds the rank of Cadet General with five silver diamonds as the highest-ranking member of the Corps of Cadets. She outranks me, she outranks you, and she outranks everybody in Tuscaloosa.
Tuscaloosa. Now, Tuscaloosa is a pretty town on the Black Warrior River. I like it. But I need to share a number. The 2020 census counted 99,600 people in Tuscaloosa. College Station: 120,511. So when Alabama folks talk about visiting the little college town in Texas, friends, our little college town is bigger than theirs.
They call Tuscaloosa the Druid City, which sounds mysterious and ancient until you learn it's named after the water oaks planted downtown since the 1840s. It's a tree nickname, folks. That's like calling College Station "Pecan Town" and expecting folks to be scared.
And I want to discuss the branding. The team is the Crimson Tide. The mascot is an elephant named Big Al. The river is the Black Warrior. That's three completely different themes, like a wedding where the bride chose nautical, the groom chose safari and the caterer chose medieval. I respect it. I just can't explain it, and I can explain anything.
And I've been told their players walk to the stadium on the Walk of Champions, a brick plaza at the north end zone. It's a lovely plaza. Lately, friends, it has been seeing a little more walking than championing.
The Final Yell
Here's how I see it. We have a top-10 pass defense. They're coming off a night with 201 yards and four turnovers. They're nervous in the red zone. We're healthy on the ground. And every Aggie in Bryant-Denny will be standing from the opening kickoff to the last snap, because that's who we are. We don't sit down. We especially don't sit down in Tuscaloosa.
Gig 'em, and HOWDY.
My call: Alabama Crimson Tide 33, Texas A&M Aggies 20.