On the final play of No. 1 Alabama’s win over Texas A&M on Saturday night, Aggies quarterback Haynes King’s pass near the goal line to Evan Stewart fell incomplete, sealing a Crimson Tide victory. The play was heavily criticized after the fact, as Texas A&M missed an opportunity to pull off a huge upset.
However, the Crimson Tide apparently were more than prepared for the final play. Afterward, Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold said he saw Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher identify the intended receiver to King.
“He’s going ‘Evan, Evan, Evan,’” Arnold remembered Fisher saying, referring to Stewart, via Michael Casagrande of AL.com.
Even if King was able to complete the pass to Stewart, Arnold was right there to potentially keep Stewart short of the goal line.
“It was a great route,” Arnold said, via Casagrande, “and I was in perfect position and able to make a play.”
It was no surprise that Fisher wanted Stewart to have a chance to score on the final play, as the freshman was the leading receiver in the game with eight catches for 106 yards. On the season, Stewart has 303 receiving yards and a touchdown on 26 catches, which leads the Aggies.
Still, by revealing the Aggies’ primary target on the final pass, Fisher gave a strong Alabama defense a key advantage.
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