Texas A&M stuns No. 1 Alabama in shootout 41-38

Jimbo Fisher finally snapped Nick Saban’s streak against former assistants, becoming the first to take down his old boss. The Texas A&M Aggies pulled off the shocker of Week 6 against No. 1 Alabama, taking down the Crimson Tide 41-38 on a last-second field goal. The win not only hands Alabama its first loss since November of 2019 but also shakes up the College Football Playoff picture.

Zach Calzada, who took over at quarterback early in the season when Haynes King went down, performed admirably. He threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns, including a beautiful game-tying toss to Ainias Smith. Calzada was injured on the play and had to be carried off the field but returned to set up the game-winning field goal.

Bryce Young struggled early in the contest but did find his rhythm to throw for 369 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The quarterback faced tremendous pressure all night from Texas A&M’s defense, which dialed up the blitz often.

It looked like Alabama would return to form after some early jitters when the Crimson Tide blocked a punt for a touchdown to make it 24-17 Aggies. Texas A&M took the ensuing kickoff to the house to maintain a two-score gap. Young led the Crimson Tide to 21 unanswered points before Calzada’s heroics.

With the loss, Georgia is likely to rise as the top team in the polls. Undefeated Iowa and Oklahoma squads have set themselves up well for the College Football Playoff and now a handful of one-loss teams will be competing with Alabama on resume. The Crimson Tide no longer have a margin for error and they still have LSU, Arkansas and Auburn on the schedule.