Nick Saban jokes about setting record for mess-ups while still winning against Texas A&M

Alabama has not played clean football over the past two seasons. Thinking about all of the losses — Tennessee, LSU (both in 2022), and Texas this season — they all share a similar trait. Penalties and mental mistakes have added up and contributed. It’s not something we are used to seeing from a team led by Nick Saban.

Saturday against Texas A&M was another example of Alabama seeing the mistakes pile up. Except they were on the winning end this time and Saban believes he set a personal record. The most “mess-ups” in one game to occur while the Crimson Tide still wound up on the winning end.

“This may be a record game for me in terms of messing up and still winning,” Saban said during his postgame press conference. “It might be a record. If you take the mess-ups and the penalties and you add them all together.”

Alabama finished the game with 14 penalties for 99 yards at Kyle Field. A ton of them were for presnap issues on the offensive end, with the home Texas A&M crowd playing a huge role. The offensive line was constantly jumping early and moving the ball back five yards. Just a few mental mistakes.

Saban was not too happy with how quarterback Jalen Milroe went about the final seconds of the game in an attempt to close it out. Alabama had a first down and could have run the clock out to zero with three kneel-downs.

Instead, Milroe decided to quick snap and attempt a pass out wide. Sure, the receiver was wide open but not something necessary when the game could be over. There was no benefit to even trying to catch Texas A&M off guard.

Alabama had not run a play on fourth down and risked giving Texas A&M the ball back. Thankfully for them, Milroe executed that play well and before the ball hit down out of bounds, the game was over. But with the type of quarterbacks in Tuscaloosa over the past few years, those kind of scenarios have never been a problem.

Saban will turn on the tape and likely find a few more miscues he is not pleased with. A win is a win though, especially on the road against a good SEC opponent. Having firm control of the West and continuing their quest toward winning a conference championship will ultimately be the head coach’s takeaway.