SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 18, 2014
No. 7 Alabama 59, No. 21 Texas A&M 0: Blake Sims threw for three touchdowns and ran for one and Amari Cooper, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry each accounted for two scores as the host Crimson Tide embarrassed the Aggies.
Sims finished 16-of-27 for 268 yards with TD passes of 24 and 45 yards to Cooper and a 41-yard scoring toss to Henry while rushing for 54 yards and a TD before giving way to Jake Coker midway through the third quarter. Cooper hauled in eight passes for 140 yards, Yeldon racked up 114 yards and two TDs on 13 carries and Henry added rushing and receiving scores as Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC) rolled up 602 total yards a week after being held to 227 in a 14-13 win at Arkansas.
Aggies quarterback Kenny Hill was 17-of-26 for 138 yards and an interception before being replaced by Kyle Allen. Texas A&M (5-3, 2-3) netted only 31 rushing yards and 172 total yards while losing its third straight game.
The Crimson Tide settled for a field goal on their first series before scoring touchdowns on their next seven possessions. Four of their scoring drives spanned 10 or more plays, but they also had four scoring plays of 24 yards or longer, including Sims' three long TD passes and his 43-yard run.
The Aggies didn't cross midfield until their second possession of the third quarter, when a failed fourth-down conversion turned the ball over to Alabama on its 32-yard line. Texas A&M had another promising drive late in the third, reaching the Alabama 17 before Reggie Ragland's leaping interception preserved the shutout, and had its final chance to get on the board thwarted by another failed fourth-down conversion from the Alabama 23.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Alabama's 35 points in the second quarter are its most since the program began keeping official records in 1945. … The Crimson Tide improved to 65-2 since the start of the 2008 season when rushing for at least 140 yards. … The shutout was the first in Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin's seven-year career as a head coach.