AJ McCarron criticizes Jalen Milroe, Alabama offense following Oklahoma upset

Alabama‘s offense could never get anything going in last Saturday’s 24-3 loss at Oklahoma, producing just 234 total yards and zero touchdowns — the program’s lowest offensive output since 2004.

Of course, redshirt junior quarterback Jalen Milroe and first-year Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer bore the brunt of the criticism, though some of the loudest came from within Alabama’s extended family.

Former quarterback AJ McCarron, who was a member of three of the Tide’s six National Championships under former head coach Nick Saban, became the latest to raise issue with what he saw from Alabama’s offense Saturday, and placed much of the blame squarely on Milroe’s shoulders.

“Jalen’s struggling reading coverages,” McCarron said on Monday’s edition of the McCready & Sisky podcast, “and that’s probably the biggest thing other than mechanics and throwing the football, like he hasn’t really progressed since last year (especially) when teams show one thing and mix it up late.”

Milroe was admittedly off his game in Norman, completing a career-low 42.3-percent of his passes while throwing a career-high three interceptions. He was the first Alabama quarterback to achieve such a feat since Blake Sims in 2014.

McCarron on Milroe’s first INT: ‘You can’t throw that ball’

Milroe’s first interception, on a screen pass that was incorrectly blocked, was among the most egregious for McCarron, while the second resulted in a pick-six when Sooners linebacker Kip Lewis stepped in front of another quick pass outside and returned it 49 yards for the 24-3 advantage.

“Like on the first pick, … (you) don’t throw it because it was a long ride fake, and the corner was already there. It was clear as day, it’s not like you don’t see it,” McCarron continued. “I’ve done that before. You can’t throw that ball. The second one, the pick-six, (Milroe) never saw them go into Cover 3. He saw the ‘backer, the flat defender tucked inside and never moved his eyes one bit to see, ‘alright, where’s this flat defender going? Or is it Cover 3, Cover 2?’ He already made his mind up and was throwing that. Threw it right to him.”

Milroe finished just 11-of-26 passing for 164 yards and no touchdowns, while adding just seven rushing yards on 15 carries, a career-worst performance for the second-year starter.

DeBoer defended his quarterback’s performance, attributing many of the issues to the overall team effort Saturday.

“I thought (Milroe) was actually putting the ball where we needed to. We just needed to help him out a little bit. The screen pass, they jump it and you have to assume that those blocks are gonna happen and you’re reading a different defender,” DeBoer said after the game. “And then there’s the pick-six that goes the other way. I don’t know if he just didn’t see him or predetermined things, but there’s still a lot of game left. And I felt like a lot of things he was doing, he was fighting and battling and doing a lot of things well for our football team. We just all needed to be a little better.”

McCarron calls out Tide ground game: ‘Like, what are we doing?’

McCarron also pointed to Alabama’s inconsistent, or at times non-existent, run game against Oklahoma, which held the Tide to a season-low 70 rushing yards.

“Another issue they have is they’re not handing the ball off to the damn running backs. Like, what are we doing? Justice Haynes and (Jam) Miller I think they had 2-3 runs apiece, and that was it,” McCarron said. “They just aren’t a very good offense when they can’t establish the run with Jalen, or they don’t establish the run at all. What he does best is play-action, when they’re running the ball well, getting him outside, let him move the pocket. Things like that. Dropping back and just reading coverages, … that’s not what he does. He can’t do that on a consistent basis. … We’ve seen enough. We’ve had two years of evidence that backs what I’m saying. … There’s enough film out there.”

It’s that wealth of film that McCarron worries will continue to cost Alabama if there aren’t some significant changes implemented. And with the always-contentious Iron Bowl on Saturday, the former Tide quarterback isn’t holding his breath that’ll happen anytime soon.

“One thing I think you’ve seen, this year, especially as the season has gone on, … teams have played Jalen and Alabama’s offense tougher than ever before in his two years of starting,” McCarron concluded. “Because they have enough film on him, they’ve figured out what his weaknesses are. Basically, when teams play them good, they say, ‘You’re not going to run the ball on us, and if we get beat by (Milroe) throwing it, screw it, we’ll take our chances.’”