Keelon Russell threw two of his three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to help No. 13 Alabama pull away late in a 31-20 win over Texas A&M on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Russell, who threw one touchdown pass and two interceptions in his previous two games combined, amassed 311 yards through the air with one interception for the Crimson Tide (6-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference).
With star wideout Ryan Coleman-Williams sidelined for the second straight week, Rico Scott stepped up with six catches for 156 yards for Alabama, which snapped its two-game losing streak.
The Crimson Tide won despite kicker Conor Talty, who entered the day having made his last 15 field goals, missing two of his three attempts.
Marcel Reed completed 14 of 21 passes for 163 yards, one TD and two interceptions for Texas A&M (4-4, 1-4), which has already lost as many SEC games this year as it did the last two seasons combined.
KJ Edwards had a team-high 43 rushing yards, while Mario Craver had six catches for 45 yards and a TD for the Aggies.
After Texas A&M got a 25-yard field goal from David Olano on the first drive of the second half to take a 20-17 lead, Talty’s second missed field goal came with 5:36 left in the third quarter.
But after the Aggies failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at their own 45 on a Reed fumble, Alabama took advantage, reclaiming the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter with Russell’s 5-yard pass over the middle to Malachi Pritchett.
The Crimson Tide defense delivered another stop and Russell found Kaleb Edwards for an 8-yard TD to make it 31-20 with 10:01 left.
Alabama outgained Texas A&M 102-15 in the fourth quarter.
Reed got off to a dreadful start when the Aggies’ first two drives ended with interceptions, one of which was returned 39 yards by Dijon Lee Jr. for a touchdown.
However, he bounced back by leading consecutive scoring drives. Reed capped the first with a 9-yard TD pass to Craver and followed up with a 4-yard rushing score to give his side a 14-10 lead with 10:14 left in the first half.
Alabama reclaimed the lead when Russell connected with Daniel Hill for a 3-yard score but an interception on the Crimson Tide’s next possession gave the Aggies a short field, setting them up for a David Olano game-tying 32-yard field goal to tie game at 17 heading into the half.
