TUSCALOOSA — The Texas A&M hype machine is no more. Alabama sliced it, diced it and kicked it to the curb with a ruthless first-half effort that rightfully removed the Aggies from the top 25 discussion and — at least for a week — reestablished the Tide’s national contender status.

Alabama was so dominant in Saturday’s 59-0 stomping it already had a pair of wins by the tail end of the first quarter. First, down went No. 11 Oklahoma to No. 14 Kansas State. Second, up popped West Virginia with a decisive upset of No. 4 Baylor.

Anyone still want to discuss whether the Sooners’ Sugar Bowl triumph over the Tide didn’t delve into serendipity? And what about the Mountaineers, who Alabama was knocked for only beating 33-23 in its season opener?

But let’s let bygones be bygones. That’s what the Crimson Tide with a shaky two-game stretch entering Saturday’s SEC West showdown that was as one-sided as the previous two hyped clashes had been close.

The special teams miscues, turnovers, and Jekyll-and-Hyde offense against Ole Miss and Arkansas were easy to forget after a first half that featured some extremely eye-popping numbers. Alabama’s 45 points by the break nearly topped Texas A&M’s 51 total yards at the midway point — and that’s just the start of the statistical iceberg.

In the first 30 minutes, the Tide lambasted the Aggies in total yards (449-51), rushing yards (226-0), passing yards (223-51), first downs (22-2), third-down conversions (6 of 9 to 0 of 6), total plays (51-23) and time of possession (19:50-10:10). Don’t forget to consider the most important mark of all — zero turnovers — which was a sight for sore eyes in the first action at Bryant-Denny Stadium in nearly a month.

To put the first-half performance in further perspective, there were four Alabama players who entered the locker room with more yards than Texas A&M did as a team.

Blake Sims and T.J. Yeldon, who both wore out the juke button on the Playstation controllers that seemingly guided all of their graceful moves, were the most frequent offenders.

Sims returned to form with 15-of-26 passing for 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with 54 rushing yards that almost all came on a shifty 43-yard scoring scamper. The fifth-year senior also tossed a 45-yard touchdown to Amari Cooper — who reignited his Heisman candidacy with eight catches for 140 yards and two scores — just a minute into the third quarter before giving way to backup Jake Coker for the rest of the contest.

Derrick Henry rounded out the quartet with 58 yards on just eight carries. The sophomore never came close to being stopped on an 8-yard touchdown tote and bobbed and weaved 41 yards through potential traffic after reeling in a short screen pass for another six-point play.

Both of Henry’s scores contributed to the Tide’s most productive 15 minutes in program history. Their 35 points in the second quarter knocked off the previous high of 34 set against Ole Miss in 1989.

Alabama’s 45 points matched the amount it scored versus Duke in 2010 and were second only to a 52-point explosion in a 1990 meeting with Vanderbilt.

Yeldon did some damage to quite a few Aggie ankles and moved up the Tide’s record books as a result. His triple-digit rushing output, which was reached midway through the second quarter, was the 14th of his career, and his second rushing touchdown was his 30th all-time. Yeldon is currently tied for sixth in the latter category with Eddie Lacy. Mark Ingram is still the Alabama back to beat with 42 total scores via the ground.

The only area that didn’t go the Tide’s way Saturday was injuries. But even there, Alabama couldn’t go wrong.

Offensive lineman Austin Shepherd, who was gingerly helped off the field in the first half, and defensive counterpart Jonathan Allen, who spent a short stretch on the turf in the second, were both deemed good to go by Nick Saban in the coach’s postgame press conference.

Saban said Shepherd (sprained ankle, knee) could’ve played in the second half if needed and that Allen’s only ailment was cramps.

That means the Tide will be fully loaded — and full of momentum — for next week’s trip to Rocky Top. If they play anything like they did Saturday, then Tennessee won’t stand a chance. Neither will LSU following a bye week.

But Mississippi State might. Nov. 15 can’t come soon enough.