All eyes turn toward the Tuscaloosa-bound Aggies in this week's 411

[caption id="attachment_26442" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by John Hamilton Photo by John Hamilton[/caption] Texas A&M prepares for a showdown, Baylor remains undefeated and two first-year coaches are already making an impact in this week’s 4-1-1. Four ObservationsCan the Aggies shock the SEC? A week removed from hosting ESPN’s College Football Gameday, the Aggies travel to Alabama to take on the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide with ESPN making the trip. This is undoubtedly Kevin Sumlin’s biggest game as a head football coach and the most important game for Texas A&M in some time. A win solidifies the Aggies climb within the SEC and sets up a potential berth into the College Football Playoffs. A close loss doesn’t do much to derail the built momentum this season. However, a blowout loss on the road leads credence to the SEC being Alabama and then everyone else in 2016. A&M has traveled to Alabama and won. To do it again, Texas A&M must rely on the running game and a stout defense. It is hard to imagine a team beating Alabama at its own game. Baylor stays on track Baylor remained undefeated with a 49-7 victory over a Kansas team that lost by just one point to TCU the week before. The Bears are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Big 12 with West Virginia. The Mountaineers demand little respect nationally, so the Big 12’s national title hopes ride solely on the back of the Bears. In no way has Baylor played like a national title contender despite the record. Baylor’s offense is out of sync and the defense, while improving, still isn’t an elite unit capable of winning games alone. Jim Grobe’s team put up 49 points and Seth Russell accounted for four touchdowns despite a lack of efficiency in the passing game. That’s either a good sign because it means Baylor is capable of so much more, or it could be bad if we take it as a sign of things to come against the better teams on the schedule. Two surprise teams could go bowling Two Conference USA teams from Texas are suddenly progressing towards a bowl berth. UTSA moved to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference play with a one-point victory over Rice. It wasn’t a pretty effort or one that will inspire a lot of confidence from the Roadrunners, but it was a win. The chase for six wins is on in San Antonio and it would be a first in program history. A winnable home game against a struggling UTEP program is the test this week for first-year head coach Frank Wilson. Another first-year head coach in Texas has his program at 3-3 in Conference USA and that’s Seth Littrell at North Texas. The Mean Green are coming off an idle week in preparation for Army, a team that blew out Rice and UTEP. Depth is killing Texas State Texas State is learning how to compete for 60 minutes and the roster first-year head coach Everett Withers inherited simply can’t play with Sun Belt opponents for four quarters. For the second week in a row, Texas State surrendered an early lead to fall to 2-4 on the season. The Bobcats led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter before Louisiana-Monroe scored 23 straight points in the second quarter. Texas State was outscored by 24 points in the second quarter the week before against Georgia State. Quick starts show the coaching staff knows how to be successful, but wins will be hard to collect if the depth doesn’t improve. One Question Texas Tech was embarrassed at home against West Virginia. The Red Raiders are now 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in conference with Oklahoma this week. A loss to the Sooners means Kliff Kingsbury’s crew would sport a losing record heading into the Texas game. Charlie Strong’s hot seat is well understood. Does Kliff’s get to an alarming amount of heat if Texas Tech struggles to reach a bowl game this year? And if so, what does his record need to be in 2017 to keep his job? One Prediction The Dallas Cowboys figure out a way to ruin the season. We’ve all been hurt too many times by this franchise to assume the quarterback situation doesn’t ultimately blow up and end at 9-7.

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