Aggies bag the elephant

It can’t go unnoticed or unspoken that #1 ranked Alabama lost this past weekend to an unranked team – the Texas A&M Aggies.

While Alabama fans were stunned were stunned, there were plenty of Aggie fans elated on Saturday at the big A&M 41-38 victory over the Crimson Tide.

It is the first time in 14 years and 100 games it lost to a team ranked outside the top 25. The last time it happened was on Nov. 17, 2007, when Louisiana-Monroe beat the Crimson Tide.

The Aggies led 31-17 until midway through the third quarter before the Crimson Tide pulled off 21 straight points to take a 38-31 lead with five minutes remaining. But the Aggies still got them two minutes later and won on a 28-yard field goal by Seth Small on the final play of the game.

The win put The Aggies back into the Associated Press Top 25 at No. 21. Alabama, the team that had been in the top spot all season, dropped to fifth.

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, last May at the Houston Touchdown Club, vowed the Aggies would beat Alabama’s Nick Saban before the iconic coach retired. The Aggies delivered on that promise. A&M won for the first time in nine tries against Alabama, the reigning national champion.

A&M’s previous two games offered no indication of what was to come against Alabama. The Aggies lost 20-10 to Arkansas in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium on Sept. 25 and 26-22 to Mississippi State on Oct. 2 at Kyle Field. A&M dropped from No. 7 to No. 15 to unranked in the Associated Press poll en route to the two surprising setbacks, and the Crimson Tide lost to an unranked team for the first time in 101 tries.

The Aggies next play at Missouri at 11 a.m. Saturday for the first time since 2013.

Other changes in the top 25 show Georgia in the top spot, with Iowa, Cincinnati and Oklahoma rounding out the new top four. Texas dropped to 25th from 21st following its 55-48 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday in Dallas, while SMU moved up to 23rd from 24th following its 31-24 victory at Navy.