Zach Calzada, 86.6 (68.7)

Ainias Smith, 77.1 (67.8)

Isaiah Spiller, 75.3 (78.3)

Devon Achane, 72.3 (80.8)

Kenyon Green, 65.3 (66.5)

Reuben Fatheree, 62.2 (63.6)

Max Wright, 60.9 (59.4)

Jalen Wydermyer, 60.4 (53.2)

Blake Trainor, 59.8 (54.1)

Demond Demas, 58.2 (54.4)

Bryce Foster, 57.7 (53.1)

Layden Robinson, 57.2 (75)

Chase Lane, 56.4 (59.2)

Jalen Preston, 52.5 (58.3)

Jayden Peevy, 70.7 (82.4)

Tyree Johnson, 69.6 (69)

Leon O’Neal, 68.7 (79.4)

Antonio Johnson, 68.5 (86.2)

Micheal Clemons, 65.6 (79.5)

Isaiah Raikes, 58.9 (62.7)

Aaron Hansford, 58.8 (66.2)

Tyreek Chappell, 58.4 (68.9)

McKinnley Jackson, 55 (58.7)

Demani Richardson, 54.9 (66.2)

Andre White, 51.2 (44.9)

Adarious Jones, 50 (58.2)

Jaylon Jones, 49.1 (59)

Edgerrin Cooper, 46.2 (44.9)

Erick Young, 45.7 (57.3)

Keldrick Carper, 45.7 (56.3)

DeMarvin Leal, 39.9 (65.3)

There were a lot of things Zach Calzada did well Saturday night as he racked up the highest PFF score for a quarterback against a Nick Saban coached Alabama team. But the one thing that stood out were his consistent mechanics. We’ve already talked about his increased confidence and the fact he stood in the pocket, but that wasn’t all he did well. If you go back and look at his throws, and with the exception of a couple of high arching passes, his mechanics were the same. There were a few things that I noticed. First, his shoulders were level when he threw the ball. You don’t want to have your shoulders tilted one way or the other because you’ll throw high or ground the ball. Second, he maintained his center of gravity. He had a habit of in the first couple of games of getting more weight on his back leg, which also contributed to overthrows. Third, he kept his front leg bent when he strode and released the football. He had previously had a habit known as “vaulting”, where you look the front leg as you release the ball. Once again, that contributes to overthrows.

Saturday night, I can think of one overthrow in 31 attempts. One. That’s outstanding, obviously. Jimbo Fisher said Calzada had been practicing well and it was just a matter of time until it translated to a game — I guess there had been an emphasis on his mechanics as well, and that translated too.

Look at #20. That’s Jardin Gilbert. He instinctively felt Achane coming up behind him and just got out of the way, almost making it look like an “after you” kind of move. There are small things that make big plays, and just getting out of the way helped make that one.

One thing that teams tend to do when they play Alabama, especially when they get behind, is abandon the run. That’s definitely been the case the past couple of seasons when the Aggies have played them, because the Tide have jumped out to a lead, the running game hasn’t been effective and all you’re left with is throwing the ball. The Aggies maintained their balance Saturday night, and that is a credit to Jimbo fighting off that urge to “sling it”. The Aggies ran the ball 27 times for just 94 yards, but they got the tough yards they needed to. That’s also pretty good, considering A&M had two possessions in the last 5 minutes that were largely passes. Last year, A&M won games when they were balanced. This was the closest they’ve been to it this year and it paid off.

When looking at the improvement of the offensive line Saturday night (which I think was obvious, and shows that you can’t always take PFF scores at face value), there was one thing that stood out being able to hold their own physically against Alabama for the first time. That was the blitz pickups. Truth be told, this credit also goes to the backs and the tight ends, because they were involved in this as well, but the focus in this case is on the line. First, a ton of credit to true freshman Bryce Foster, who did a great job recognizing blitzes and calling out the blitzers. Then the credit goes to the rest of the guys — Kenyon Green and Deuce Fatheree in particular — for picking them up. I’ve said it before and will say it many times before the 2023 draft, but Will Anderson is going to be a top five pick. He had 6 tackles, but did you hear his name called in a high-pressure situation? No. That’s because Fatheree handled him.

There were a few things Nick Saban and his staff did Saturday night which I still don’t get. The play calls inside the 5 were stupid, but that’s Bill O’Brien. Is anyone surprised? The clock management by Saban himself was really bad. But the one that still kills me was the insistence on putting Brian Branch on Ainias Smith 1-on-1. Branch is a very good safety. But he is a safety. He is not a corner, and he’s not fast enough to handle Ainias. Smith beat him deep for the touchdown and repeatedly blew past him with an inside move to come open in the middle of the field. Everyone knew 0 was A&M’s most explosive player, and Alabama made no move to help Branch. I still can’t figure it out.

We all know about Ole Miss, the SEC’s version of shoot it out and pray you get the football last. The Rebels were up to their old tricks last weekend against Arkansas and have given up 93 points in the last two games.

But there’s someone worse in the SEC East. Missouri. A team that was expected to be bland on offense and reliant on a solid defense this year is putting up strong numbers on offense, but even more putrid numbers on defense. You’ll tomorrow when I publish the offense-defense matchups, but they are 130th in rush defense and 128th in total defense. There are 130 teams in FBS. This means they’re even worse than the legendarily bad defenses Ole Miss has put out recently.

What’s bad for Mizzou is that the best running back tandem in college football is heading their way this weekend. Is there any doubt about that now? The stats for the two combined: 135 carries, 870 yards (6.4 YPC), and 5 TD. And that’s with an offensive line that was not good for the first month of the season AND with the Alabama game in the rear-view mirror. Since the Aggies don’t play Georgia this year, they won’t see a defensive front comparable to Alabama’s again. But there’s more to this duo: they both have 17 catches now, for a combined 317 yards (9.1 YPC) and 2 TD. Spiller has been recognized as a top-notch blocker, but Achane has really started to come into his own in that respect as well. They’re not just rushers, they’re complete players and nobody has a pairing that equals them.

Here’s the rankings of A&M’s remaining opponents against the run.

Missouri: 130th

South Carolina: 80th

Ole Miss: 106th

Auburn: 22nd

LSU: 77th

I would suggest a steady dose of 28 and 6.