Rece Davis weighs in on Jimbo Fisher's decision not to go for it on fourth down vs. Alabama

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher had a crucial decision to make late in Saturday’s game against Alabama, and ESPN analyst Rece Davis believes he missed the mark. The Aggies found themselves facing fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line and trailing 26-17 with just over two minutes remaining.

Fisher called timeout to think over the decision of whether to go for it, but ultimately sent out kicker Randy Bond to attempt a field goal. He sent it through the uprights to make it a one-possession game, but A&M failed to recover the ensuing onside kick as the Crimson Tide took back over with 2:11 remaining.

They ran out the clock the rest of the way, forcing the Aggies to burn their final two timeouts on their way to a 26-20 loss.

“The late one, I think you go ahead and score the touchdown,” Davis said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I understand the math and the metrics and the logic of making it a one-possession game. But if you score a touchdown there, now you’ve put some real game pressure on Alabama. You have put them in a position like, ‘Man, we can lose this thing on a field goal’ so they have to be more aggressive on offense to make sure they move the ball and don’t give it back to you.”

That wasn’t the only time in Saturday’s game that Davis believes Fisher should have gone for it on fourth down. The Aggies also faced fourth-and-1 late in the third quarter with the game tied at 17, but opted to punt the ball instead. The result? Alabama scored on its very next drive and took the lead for good.

It didn’t stand out nearly as much as the mistakes made by Miami and Arizona in their respective games, especially where the Hurricanes chose not to take a knee and ended up fumbling. But it was still a missed opportunity in a critical game. A&M had the chance to take control of the SEC West, but instead finds itself one of three teams with one loss in conference play.

“Certainly not egregious in the same realm as (Mario) Cristobal and not as conservative as (Jedd) Fisch continuing to play against Caleb Williams, but I did think that was overly conservative as well. A&M would have been better served to go for it in both of those situations.”

Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M will look to rebound from the Alabama loss when they face Tennessee in Week 7.