Craven: Time to find out if the Aggies are national title contenders

[caption id="attachment_19421" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Will Leverett Photo by Will Leverett[/caption] Texas A&M can make a statement at home this weekend against Alabama. The Aggies enter the contest at 5-0 and in position to take control of their destiny in the SEC West by knocking off a Crimson Tide team that bounced back from a loss to Ole Miss earlier in the season by beating the, well, you know, out of Georgia last week. An Ole Miss loss opened up the division, especially with Auburn struggling this season after entering the year as one of the favorites to contend for a national championship. The Aggies have already knocked off Mississippi State and Arkansas, leaving Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU as the swing games for the rest of the season. During the Kevin Sumlin era, Texas A&M has been an offensive juggernaut, but the hiring of John Chavis from LSU to run the Aggie defense is already paying dividends. A&M held a high-powered Arizona State offense to under 20 points in the opener and the only team to score more than 23 points against the Aggies this season was Nevada. TCU and Baylor are dominating the headlines in the state of Texas, but quietly the Aggies are becoming title contenders and that argument can be solidified with a win at home against Alabama and a road-win next week against Ole Miss. After that, the A&M schedule opens up before facing LSU on the road to end the season. Beating Alabama is no easy task, obviously. All Aggie fans, players and coaches remember the 59-0 embarrassment that took place in Tuscaloosa last season. That mental edge should bode well for the Crimson Tide and Nick Saban. Saban teams rarely lose twice in a season and falling to Ole Miss may end up being the catalyst that drives Alabama back to the College Football Playoff. To beat Alabama, the Aggies must stop the run on defense and force the Alabama offense to throw the ball. Alabama running back Derrick Henry is a Heisman candidate and we’ll all get a chance to see how much this Aggie defense has toughened under Chavis. This is an important game for the state of Texas, as well. A win for A&M would give the state three legit national title contenders in TCU, Baylor and Texas A&M. We haven’t seen that kind of in-state success at once since the old days when Miami, Florida State and Florida all competed each year for conference and national titles.