The Saturday Dispatch Section A · Texas A&M
SEC · 2026 season · 4-4, 1-4 SEC · unranked in the Oct 18 AP poll

Texas A&M Aggies

Week 8 · graded · next: the bye, then South Carolina
Alabama 31, Texas A&M 20
Final · Saturday, Oct 24 · Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa · graded Sunday, Oct 25 · next: the bye, Oct 31; then at South Carolina, Saturday, Nov 7 · kickoff TBD · Williams-Brice Stadium
The recap → Two-minute read →
The Week 8 Recap
Recap · graded Oct 25
31–20
The final; we said Alabama 32–18
10 / 4 / 2
Claims right / partly / wrong
4 / 2 / 0
Storylines: mattered / minor / didn't
The call was right: Alabama 32, Texas A&M 18 against 31–20, the market off by 2.5 and A&M covering. It was 17–17 at the half and A&M led 20–17 after three; Alabama won it on Dijon Lee Jr.'s pick-six on Reed's second throw, Keelon Russell's 311 yards and three touchdowns, and a fourth-and-1 fumble at the A&M 45 that became the go-ahead score. The miss was the Aggie run defense, which held Alabama to 68 rushing yards.
Our score prediction was right: we said Alabama 32, Texas A&M 18, and it ended 31 to 20. It was tied at halftime and A&M led after three quarters; Alabama won it with an early interception returned for a touchdown, long passes from Keelon Russell, and a fumble on A&M's fourth-down try that set up the go-ahead touchdown. What we got wrong: A&M's run defense was much better than we said.
Three tells, graded: Reed's yards per attempt over his first 15, PARTLY (8.6, but two interceptions) · pressure on Russell over his first 20 dropbacks, PARTLY (four, between the bars) · A&M's first 10 third downs, RIGHT (four, and 33 minutes of possession). Read the recap · Open the two-minute read
Season coverage plan
Week 1 · Missouri State · before Dispatch coverage began
Week 2 · Arizona State · W 48–20 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 3 · Kentucky · L 21–31 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 4 · at LSU · L 6–35 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 5 · Arkansas · W 34–7 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 6 · at Missouri · L 6–27 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 7 · The Citadel · W 41–0 · an FCS opponent, so the two-minute read alone: no call, no scouting report, no recap edition Card only
Week 8 · at Alabama · L 20–31 · Recap · Two-minute read · Scouting report Graded
Week 9 · Bye · Oct 31 · season-to-date report in the Thursday slot
Week 10 · at South Carolina · Saturday, Nov 7 · kickoff TBD · Williams-Brice Stadium · Monday scouting report, Saturday pregame read, Sunday recap
Week 13 · Texas at Texas A&M · Friday, Nov 27 · one shared edition with the Texas section, one call, both pages graded on it Shared edition
The words we use
The words we use
The call is the final score we are predicting. We write it down on Monday and leave it alone, the way you would write your guess on a napkin before kickoff and not touch it after.
The market is the betting line, which is the number of points the people wagering real money expect the favorite to win by. Those people have been better at this than our computer so far, so our call leans on their number.
The model is our computer's own guess at the score, built from the season's numbers. We print it next to the betting line so you can see when the two agree and when they do not.
Tells are three early signs to watch in the first stretch of the game. If they show up, the game is going the way we said; if they do not, we were probably wrong, and you will know it before we do.
Edges are our answer, one matchup at a time, to the question of which team has the better side of it.
Graded means that on Sunday we go back over everything we said and mark each piece right, partly right, or wrong.
Gameday songs and yells
Aggie War Hymn · the fight song, "Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!"; on the last verse the whole stadium locks arms and sways to saw Varsity's horns off · Aggie Band at Kyle Field · Las Vegas Bowl 2024 · Lyrics
The Spirit of Aggieland · the alma mater, slower and heavier than the War Hymn by design, sung before kickoff and at Muster · Aggie Band · pregame at Kyle Field · with the words on screen · Lyrics
The yells · Gig 'em, Farmers Fight, Beat the Hell, Locomotive, Horse Laugh; the Yell Leaders pass back a hand signal for each and the stadium answers · What is Midnight Yell · words and signals on the Aggie yells page
Midnight Yell Practice · the night before every home game, Kyle Field at midnight, the yells and the songs run through in the dark · a full practice · Traditions