College Football

Hope always sells, and Jimbo Fisher provided it once again in Texas A&M’s hard-fought loss at Alabama

Hope always sells, and Jimbo Fisher provided it once again in Texas A&M's hard-fought loss at Alabama


TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Evan Stewart nodded yes. The question put to him late Saturday night in the din of a breathless Bryant-Denny Stadium was whether Texas A&M’s freshman receiver experienced holding or pass interference on final play of the game against No. 1 Alabama.

The pass thrown by Stewart’s quarterback, Haynes King, as time ran out had zipped so high and wide that there wasn’t much to discuss about the play in the immediate aftermath as the Crimson Tide survived 24-20 over the Aggies.

But as Stewart scraped himself up off the ground and replay showed Bama cornerback Terrion Arnold hitting the receiver early — there were no flags — a reality settled in: The Aggies came this close to upsetting the Tide for the second year in a row.

“We were getting ready to celebrate,” said Texas A&M defensive lineman Fadil Diggs, who had already popped the cork in his mind.

Jimbo Fisher tried to downplay the significance of an inspiring four-point loss, but isn’t that the takeaway for Aggies everywhere in this up-and-down season?

“I don’t believe in moral victories,” said Texas A&M’s coach, “but you show the growth in what you can be. We went toe to toe. Our kids are tough. They have heart. … Their heart, their desire, their guts and their ability. You can say ‘toughness,’ but we have ability.”

Stewart, drenched in sweat, felt the possibility right up until the end.

“We gave it our all,” said Stewart, weirdly smiling. “We fought.”

There was no question about that as the Aggies boiled down what was supposed to be a blowout to an incredible breath-holding moment. A backup quarterback (King) operating behind a shaky offensive line had somehow driven the Aggies 69 yards to the Tide 2 in the final 1:50 of the game.

That’s where King’s pass with 3 seconds left floated incomplete. Stewart raised his hand, palm up, to an official as if to ask, “Where’s the flag?” Shorter thereafter, two coaches who once wanted to bury the hatchet — in each other — shook hands at midfield without incident.

You can say there’s no such thing as moral victories. But for a coach making $9.5 million who dropped to 3-3 in the fifth year of his chase for a national championship, it was something darn close.

“It does show you what we’re capable of,” Fisher admitted.

And that means pretty much everything at Texas A&M right now. The result will keep the heat off until at least two weeks from now following…

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