No. 6 A&M rested and ready for challenge at No. 1 Alabama

The Texas A&M Aggies will show whether they’re legitimate national title contenders this afternoon in a marquee matchup against the Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The points per game is skewed in part to Alabama unexplainable non-offensive score streak.

The sixth-ranked Aggies return Saturday to face No. 1 Alabama in a matchup of the Southeastern Conference’s last unbeaten teams and a game that’s every bit as important as any previous meeting. That appearance turned out to be fleeting. Kansas State owned the Big 12’s best defense before Mayfield threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s win over them but Texas Tech could present a different problem if they can finally get their offense back on track. With a good, protective offensive line, Hurts will continue to make sound decisions with the ball that will help Alabama win.

Bama’s win might’ve come at a steep price.

Jackson, a senior, had previously missed time as an underclassmen while recovering from a knee injury. The simple solution for Alabama’s star defensive lineman: take flight. The Aggies will definitely be looking to ruin the day for Alabama.

Corey Clement ran for 134 yards and a touchdown and the 10th-ranked Badgers used a stout defense to beat Iowa 17-9 on Saturday, snapping a two-game skid. This week, former Tide quarterback Blake Sims ran the scout team offense for Nick Saban.

No one would’ve reasonably counted Bama out at that point, obviously.

When watching this game, look for Aggies’ edge rusher Myles Garrett to get to Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts a couple of times, but the Alabama rushing game is too strong and will allow Hurts to be efficient passing the ball.

Alabama wasted a couple red-zone opportunities, settling for two field goals and missing another, but its defense controlled the game early.

The last time MI won six consecutive games to the start a season was in 2011.

Knight might have gotten the best of Alabama’s defense in the 2014 Sugar Bowl when he was a freshman at Oklahoma, but he wasn’t going to get an inch against them a second time around. As things are shaping up, this is the Tide’s division to lose, and if they’re going to lose anything, LSU and Auburn will be the best shots and need to be playing out of their mind. Good for them for being good at it.

Malzahn and Bielema don’t like each other much, so there’s that. That’s a fluke, and it might never happen again.

Alabama was already a near-unanimous No. 1, but this could cause the lone holdout voter to reconsider. Here are Alabama’s two toughest remaining matchups this regular season, and reasons why the opposition shouldn’t wave the white flag just yet.