Oct 9, 2021; College Station, Texas, USA; Alabama defensive back Jalyn Armour-Davis (5) leaves the field as Texas A&M fans storm the field after a game-winning field goal as time expired at Kyle Field. Texas A&M defeated Alabama 41-38 on a field goal as time expired. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas A&M Aggies — an 18.5-point underdog — pulled off a stunning upset over No. 1 Alabama with a 41-38 victory on Saturday in College Station.

With the game tied 38-38, Texas A&M kicker Seth Small made a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Aggies the win in front of a raucous home crowd.

After a crazy sequence in which the teams traded special teams touchdowns, Texas A&M had a 14-point lead into the final five minutes of the third quarter.

But it felt like the top-ranked team in the country would eventually take this game. And in the fourth quarter, Alabama indeed took the lead on a comical coverage breakdown by Texas A&M at the goal line. Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams was left *wide open* for a touchdown to give the Crimson Tide a 38-31 lead with five minutes remaining (after the successful two-point conversion, which Williams also caught).

However, the Aggies answered with a touchdown on the next drive to tie it up. Quarterback Zach Calzada found Ainias Smith for a 25-yard touchdown, despite taking a big hit to the leg.

The Texas A&M defense stepped up and forced a punt on the ensuing draft (after the Crimson Tide offense was rolling in the second half), and Calzada was able to play through the leg injury to make some key plays — both passing and running — to set up the game-winning field goal.

This snaps Alabama’s unbelievable 100-game winning streak against unranked teams, with their last loss coming in 2007. It also snaps their 19-game winning streak in general, which was the longest active streak in FBS. And it’s the first time that Nick Saban has ever lost to a former assistant coach. Jimbo Fisher — who was Saban’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU — made Saban’s record vs former assistants 24-1.

It’s also the first time an AP No. 1 has lost to an unranked team since 2008, snapping a 106-game streak.

It’s a bad loss for Alabama to a Texas A&M team that was 0-2 in SEC play, with one of those losses coming last week at home to unranked Mississippi State.

And it’s a potentially huge deal for College Football Playoff purposes (related: Iowa’s path is favorable now). Alabama will undoubtedly remain firmly in the CFP picture as long as they take care of business in the coming weeks, but now they probably *need* to beat Georgia in the likely SEC Championship Game. Georgia beat No. 18 Auburn 34-10 on Saturday and will move up to No. 1 in the polls.

For Texas A&M, it’s a signature win in the Fisher era (which began in 2018). And again, it came after two losses — and no good wins on the season — that had many down on the program entering this game. So, this is truly a program-changing moment for Fisher and the Aggies.

There’s no doubt that Saban will be extremely determined to get the Crimson Tide playing better football going forward, and they’ll look to get back on track at Mississippi State next Saturday.

Texas A&M will look to carry their momentum onto to the road when they take on Missouri next Saturday in Columbia.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.