Crimson Tide vs. Aggies Betting Line – Week 3 (2013)

The Crimson Tide vs. Aggies betting line for Week 3 (2013) had Alabama as a -8 point favorite at Sportsbook.com where you can claim your FREE $100 BET HERE.

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Alabama -8 & 61

Opening Line & Total: Crimson Tide -8 & 61.5

In perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the entire college football regular season, No. 6 Texas A&M and Johnny Football will host top-ranked Alabama, looking to hand the Crimson Tide a loss for the second consecutive year.

Aggies QB Johnny Manziel’s legend really took off against Alabama last Nov. 10, as the freshman threw for 253 yards and ran for 92 more while the Aggies defense picked off A.J. McCarron twice in a 29-24 victory. A&M enters this game at 2-0 on the year and 0-2 ATS, earning comfortable wins against Rice and Sam Houston State while unable to cover the hefty spreads. Dating back to 2009, however, the Aggies are 16-12 ATS at home. Alabama, meanwhile, is coming off a bye week and is 1-0 SU and ATS after walloping Virginia Tech 35-10 in the season opener. The Crimson Tide are now 7-0 ATS in non-home games in the first half of the season over the past three years. The Aggies are 17-15 ATS in SEC games over the past three years while Alabama is a much more impressive 21-14.

Manziel was the guy for the Aggies last year against Alabama, completing 24-of-31 passes and accumulating his rushing yards on just 18 carries (5.1 YPC). After missing the first half of the first game of the season due to an NCAA violation, Manziel has completed 34-of-49 passes for 497 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. His main target has been 6-foot-5 sophomore WR Mike Evans, who has caught 13 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns, a strong follow-up to his 1,105-yard receiving season in 2012. Manziel has also run the ball 13 times for 55 yards. On the ground this year, it’s been a two-headed attack with Ben Malena leading the way with 173 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns. Tra Carson has one more carry and 127 yards, but has found the end zone four times already. The defense not only picked McCarron twice last year, but forced two fumbles, recovering one of them. The defense has looked good again this year, forcing four interceptions (one returned for a TD) in its first two games.

McCarron completed 21-of-34 pass attempts for 309 yards last year against the Aggies but the turnovers were ultimately his downfall. In week one against Virginia Tech, he wasn't at his best, but was good enough, completing 10-of-23 passes with one touchdown and one interception while getting sacked four times. While Eddie Lacy carried the ball 16 times for 92 yards in last year’s meeting between the two teams, he’s now playing on Sundays in the NFL, leaving sophomore T.J. Yeldon to have to bear the load. Against the Hokies, he carried the ball 17 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. Last season, Yeldon averaged 6.3 yards per carry while accumulating 1,108 rushing yards and 12 TD. Against A&M, however, Yeldon had just 10 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown. To justify being favored by a touchdown, the Alabama defense will need to be far stingier than it was in last year’s meeting when it did not force a single turnover and allowed the Aggies to convert on 11-of-18 third-down attempts.