Outdoors: Deer hunting memories linger. 11C
Sports
S U N D A Y , N O V E M B E R 11 , 2 012
SECTION C
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
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TOTAL AGGIE-NY
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INSIDE
No. 1 Alabama battles back in final minutes, but Aggies seal win with interception in the end zone By Cecil Hurt Sports Editor
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Going nowhere Once again, Alabama’s offense stumbles in the third quarter | 5C
Quarter glance Breakdown of each quarter | 5C
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Johnny be good Johnny Manziel handled whatever Alabama’s defense threw at him | 6C
No fear Aggies weren’t intimidated coming into Bryant-Denny and it showed | 6C
STAFF PHOTO | MICHELLE LEPIANKA CARTER
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron (10) makes a dash for the end zone during the final minutes of Saturday’s game against Texas A&M. McCarron was stopped 2 yards short. On the next play McCarron threw an interception to seal the Aggies’ win and the Tide’s first loss of the season.
The bottom line is Alabama didn’t play like Alabama
STAFF PHOTO | ROBERT SUTTON
Alabama notebook Two late mistakes cost Tide a chance for another comeback win | 7C
TUSCALOOSA f it does nothing else, Saturday’s AlabamaTexas A&M game proves one thing. The main thing is not the manner in which you choose to pursue your goals. It is how well you perform once you have chosen. That has been the real reason for Alabama’s success in recent years. It isn’t a matter of having craftier schemes or pulling more surprises. It is a matter of making few mistakes, of “performing to a standard.” No one has in-
I
Alabama Analysis Crimson Tide unable to match Texas A&M’s fast start | 7C
CECIL HURT
For video and a photo gallery of Saturday’s game go to www.tidesports.com
stilled that more effectively in his program than Nick Saban. But that only made Saturday’s 29-24 loss more puzzling and painful for the Crimson Tide. Texas A&M’s fast-paced offense is a far cry from Alabama’s attack and its make-theother-team-quit ethos. Philosophically, the teams are miles apart. Yet in many ways, Texas A&M beat Alabama at its own game. The Aggies were prepared and emotional from the beginning. They didn’t turn the ball
Ford scores three times in last game for Stillman By Cameron Kiszla Special to The Tuscaloosa News
TUSCALOOSA | Damian Ford scored on two touchdown catches and a punt return to lead Stillman to a 28-26 win over Concordia of Selma on Saturday afternoon at Stillman Stadium. The win gives the Tigers a 6-5 record and their fi rst consecutive winning seasons in six years. “You know, back-to-back winning seasons is the first thing,” coach Teddy
TUSCALOOSA | For a second straight week, the stage was set for the University of Alabama football team to continue its BCS title run with some fourth-quarter magic. But this time, there was no rabbit in the hat, only the one on the other sideline. Texas A&M, with a lightning-fast start and a wonderfully elusive freshman quarterback, Johnny Manziel, knocked Alabama on its heels in the fi rst quarter and managed to hang on Saturday for a 29-24 win that once again leaves Alabama looking for help if its national championship dream is going to survive. The Aggies scored touchdowns on their fi rst three possessions to take a 20-0 lead and Alabama never caught up, although it came tantalizingly close, especially in a thrilling fourth quarter. The Crimson Tide, down by five points after a 54-yard A J McCarron touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, stopped the Aggies on three plays and took over with 4:27 left in the game, looking to replicate the kind of magical fi nish it had against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., a week before. That seemed to be Alabama’s destiny when McCarron hit Kenny Bell for a 54-yard strike to the Aggie 6. But UA stalled there and on fourthand-goal at the 2, McCarron — whose school record-setting streak of attempts without an interception had been broken at 291 earlier in the game — was picked off in the end zone by the Aggies’ Deshazor Everett with 1:36 to play. Alabama again appeared to have the Aggies stopped with 40 seconds remaining, but on a fourth-and-1, UA was fl agged for an offside penalty. SEE A LABAMA | 5C
over, not once, while Alabama turned it over three times. Texas A&M stuck with what they do best. Alabama, meanwhile, struggled to fi nd its own identity at times, even as Texas A&M remained true to itself. “Texas A&M outplayed us,” Saban said. “I want to give them a lot of credit for what they did. But we are also going to see that we made mistakes that contributed to that.” SEE HURT | 6C
Georgia clinches SEC East with shutout win over Auburn
Keaton said. “We haven’t had back-toback winning seasons since 2006, so I’m really proud. This is a big win for the alumni, for the program, and it leads us positively into recruiting and gives us a chance to go in on something successful.” With it being homecoming and the last game for the seniors, the Tigers faced a lot of distractions, but Ford STAFF PHOTO | DUSTY COMPTON scored on a 75-yard punt return and Stillman quarterback Joshua on catches of 24 and 22 yards from Straughan (12) hands off to SEE STILLMAN | 10C Travis Robinson in the first half.
The Associated Press
AUBURN | Aaron Murray passed for 208 yards and three touchdowns, freshman tailbacks Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall each ran for more than 100 yards and No. 5 Georgia overwhelmed Auburn 38-0 on Saturday night, sending the Bulldogs back to the SEC Championship Game. Georgia (9-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) was methodical in its dominating win. It scored the fi rst shutout
for either team in the series since the Bulldogs’ 28-0 win in 1976. Auburn (2-8, 0-7 SEC) was held to 238 yards, including 57 yards rushing, as its disappointing season with embattled coach Gene Chizik suffered another embarrassing low. Georgia, the Eastern Division champion, earned its second straight trip to the Dec. 1 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Top -ranked A labama, beaten by No. 15 Texas A&M 29-24 on SEE GEORGIA | 3C
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