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Nick Saban explodes on Alabama offense following early miscues vs. Mississippi State

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh09/30/23

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John David Mercer | USA TODAY Sports

Early in the Mississippi State game, Alabama is already having offensive miscues. It’s not Jalen Milroe‘s fault though. The offensive line is struggling on multiple different levels. A couple of sacks have occurred and somehow, another bad snap came from Seth McLaughlin.

Probably to no surprise, Nick Saban is a little heated about the situation. We do not see him too animated anymore on the sideline — at least like he used to be. Saban can get completely red at times from yelling and sometimes has one person receiving all of it.

On Saturday, it was a bit more of general yelling in the direction of his offense. Wide receiver Malik Benson did receive some but toward the end of his rant, Saban yelled out toward the field and asked his team what they were doing. Except with a bit more colorful language.

You can check out a video of Saban’s explosion here.

As the ESPN broadcast pointed out, Alabama did look a bit flustered early in the game. Playing on the road at night in the SEC is not easy, no matter the venue. But add in the type of atmosphere Mississippi State can bring to the table and it’s easy to understand. Experiencing the cowbells for the first time can take a few drives to process.

However, the snap issues are not anything new for McLaughlin. Despite Saban saying it’s not something he has noticed, there have been a few scary moments coming from the center. None stand out more than when Alabama was facing off against Texas.

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“That’s a good question,” Saban said. “It was very surprising to me. We haven’t had an issue with that in the past. We haven’t had an issue with that in practice. Those kinds of things put you behind the eight-ball on offense. You get a five-yard penalty, had a couple of those. False starts. I think we had two snaps and one false start. So, puts you behind the sticks.

Even in a positive moment during the season opener against Middle Tennessee State, Milroe could not corral a snap. He wound up picking the ball up and scrambling into the end zone for a touchdown. Still, a data point on there being a problem on the exchange.

Saban will be hoping his rant brings some new energy into the offensive line, fixing up what has been some early-game issues.