Monday huddle: Looking back on the night in College Station that shook the college football world

Can you believe Texas A&M just did that to Alabama?

Texas A&M quarterback Zach Calzada (10) is surrounded by fans after the team's win over Alabama in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Craft) (Sam Craft, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Huddle up! Here’s a look back at this weekend on the gridiron, with three key takeaways from the state’s football scene.


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Aggies do the unthinkable by knocking off ‘Bama.

So, by a show of hands, how many expected Texas A&M to be celebrating a win over No. 1 Alabama after losing to unranked Mississippi State the week prior?

It’s a safe bet there weren’t many who thought that, which is why it was an unforgettable postgame scene on Kyle Field when the Aggies stunned the college football world with its 41-38 upset of the defending national champions.

Here were some notable highlights of the night:

  • It ended Alabama’s 19-game winning streak.
  • It ended Alabama’s 100-game winning streak against unranked opponents.
  • Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher became the first former assistant of Alabama head coach Nick Saban to beat his former mentor. Saban had won all 24 previous games against former assistants.
  • Texas A&M stayed alive in the SEC West. The Aggies still have two losses, but three would have all but eliminated them, and now they have a win over Alabama for tiebreaker purposes. The schedule eases up also, with games against Missouri, South Carolina and Auburn coming up before a showdown at No. 13 Ole Miss on Nov. 13.

A star is born for Texas in the Red River Shootout.

Texas fans are understandably in a foul mood and bemoaning more lousy defense after falling to Oklahoma, 55-48, in the “Red River Shootout” on Saturday.

The Longhorns gave up 35 points in the second half and 662 yards of total offense to the Sooners.

However, there was one worthy development for Texas, pun intended.

Freshman wide receiver Xavier Worthy had a coming out party in the game, catching nine passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns.

Texas looks as if it will have a cornerstone player on offense for the rest of this season and for the next two years.

Could a Heisman Trophy be in Worthy’s future? Anyone who watched him dominate Oklahoma probably wouldn’t argue that possibility.

Cowboys continue to roll.

Right now, the best offense in the NFL belongs to the Dallas Cowboys.

For the second time in three games, the Cowboys scored more than 40 points on Sunday, doing so in a 44-20 win vs. the New York Giants.

Thanks to the resurgence of quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys are No. 1 in the NFL in both yards (439.6) and points (34.0).

Even better is that a four-game winning streak could easily turn into an eight-game one looking ahead.

The next four games for Dallas are winnable, with games at New England and Minnesota, and at home against Denver and Atlanta.


About the Author

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.

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