Nick Saban critical of Jalen Milroe fumbles, 'stupid penalties' against Texas A&M

Despite leading at halftime 17-14, Alabama coach Nick Saban was critical of mistakes made by Jalen Milroe and the team as a whole. Although Milroe led two touchdown drives of his own and threw two passing touchdowns, the young quarterback fumbled the ball twice and gave Texas A&M good field position for their touchdown drives.

Adding to Saban’s frustrations, two members of the Crimson Tide offense drew unsportsmanlike conduct penalties during the half — the second of which nearly cost Alabama a field goal try.

Nick Saban on Jalen Milroe

As the teams entered the locker rooms for the half, Saban was interviewed on the field about the up-and-down half of football played by Milroe and his offense.

“Yeah, well he’s gotta get two hands on the ball in the pocket, they stripped him twice which led to both of their touchdowns,” said Saban at the half. “We played pretty well on defense except after those turnovers. So we can’t turn the ball over and we can’t get stupid penalties when we’ve got a chance to score. So you know, we’ve gotta play with more discipline.”

Both teams stepped up offensively in the second quarter, matching each other touchdown-for-touchdown for a stretch. The biggest question coming into the game was the ability of backup quarterback Jalen Milroe to lead the Alabama offense in relief of Bryce Young. Milroe showed plenty of bright spots in the first half, including huge rushes to lead them down the field and a pair of touchdown passes.

Unfortunately, with his success came three turnovers — two of which led directly to Texas A&M touchdowns. Milroe lost two fumbles while scrambling with the ball and threw an interception during Alabama’s two-minute offense with a poor passing decision. Luckily for Milroe and the Crimson Tide, Aggies quarterback Haynes King responded with an interception of his own to give Alabama one last chance to score before the half. The Crimson Tide nailed a 50-yard field goal to take the lead at the break.

The Aggies are pursuing back-to-back wins over Alabama — a feat that has only happened twice during Nick Saban’s time as coach of the Crimson Tide. LSU defeated Saban’s Alabama squad in 2010 and 2011, and Ole Miss defeated them twice in 2014 and 2015. The 2015 loss to Ole Miss was also the last time Alabama turned the ball over three times in a half.