Paul Finebaum believes Texas A&M has a chance in SEC West with Max Johnson at QB

Texas A&M has turned toward transfer QB Max Johnson to be their guy after losing starter Conner Weigman for the season with an injury.

After Weigman’s injury against Auburn, Johnson came in and led the Aggies to a 27-10 win over the Tigers before making his first start of the year for Texas A&M in a winning effort against Arkansas on Saturday.

With Johnson proving his abilities to win in the SEC for the last two weeks, SEC analyst Paul Finebaum believes the SEC West is wide open. Texas A&M, who is set to battle Alabama in College Station for Week 6, can overtake the Crimson Tide as favorites to win the entire division. He labeled Alabama as No. 1, and Texas A&M No. 1A in the SEC West.

“As I was watching [the Arkansas] game, I thought that if A&M won this game — watch out,” Finebaum told ESPN’s Matt Barrie on Sunday. “They needed momentum and they have it now. They’ve beaten two very average teams, but they’ve gotten out of it what they needed to get out of it, with momentum heading into Kyle Field on Saturday.

“I think the feeling at A&M — and I was there a week ago — was that [they believe] they can beat Alabama. This is not two years ago when this was a pipe dream and they know they can beat Alabama.”

On top of Johnson’s strong play, the rest of the offense is firing on all cylinders as well. Two running backs — Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels — have combined for 546 of the Aggies’ 802 rushing yards on the season to go with four touchdowns. Out wide, Evan Stewart and Ainias Smith are in their own world combining for 700 receiving yards through five games while Noah Thomas has been a touchdown machine with four scores on 11 receptions.

Of course, beating Alabama isn’t as easy as just having a hot offense. After defeating Mississippi State 40-17 on the road, the Tide might be on a roll just in time for their road trip to Texas A&M.

“Alabama’s defense has been fantastic, but Alabama’s offense has moments,” Finebaum continued. “This is going to be a different challenge than Ole Miss, but I agree — Max Johnson is dialing it up and we’ve seen it before. The guy we didn’t talk about comes in and leads the team to something special.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET live on CBS. The Crimson Tide are 3.5-point favorites over the Aggies in College Station.