Paul Finebaum discusses where Alabama stands after win over Texas A&M
Alabama is back in Paul Finebaum’s graces. During an appearance on “The Matt Barries Show,” the SEC Network analyst praised the Crimson Tide and their monumental 26-20 win over Texas A&M.
“They really won that game in a lot of different ways,” Finebaum said. “[Quarterback Jalen] Milroe is a tremendous deep threat but the defense was unbelievable. All I heard from the experts I sit with and you sit with every week was how good the other side of the ball was.
“I was even hearing from head coaches around the SEC that you can’t do it. Nobody can deal with that [Texas A&M] defensive line. It was actually the other way around. I mean in that final drive, Alabama looked like some of the great defenses of old.”
Alabama showed glimpses of greatness all over the field on Saturday. The team’s success start with Milroe. Although the QB has been questionable in the past, he was a constant for the Crimson Tide on Saturday. The redshirt sophomore tallied 321 passing yards and three touchdowns on a 63.4% completion percentage.
As Finebaum mentioned, Alabama’s defense was equally impressive. The Tide stood tall, limiting Texas A&M to just 306 total yards. Freshman standout Caleb Downs made his presence felt, forcing a crucial Aggies turnover early in the third quarter.
Cautiously optimistic for Alabama’s future
Despite Alabama’s upside, Finebaum refuses to let his expectations get too high for the Crimson Tide.
“The problem with Alabama though, Matt, is you can never trust them,” Finebaum said. “They will just get in their own way. This game was a little different than the Ole Miss game because they finally just kind of pulled away from all this.
“But, no matter what Alabama did, they managed to get the other team back in it. And you look at their schedule and go, ‘Well, where else could they trip up?’ How about anywhere.”
Alabama certainly wasn’t perfect in the victory. The team committed 14 penalties for a loss of 99 yards. Nonetheless, with the ear-shattering noise of Kyle Field raining down on them, the Crimson Tide squeezed out a win, and that’s worth something.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn’t deny it was an ugly win.
“We can have a really, really good team,” Saban said. “Self-inflicted wounds are going to be something that we can resolve because they’re all fixable, and we certainly need to do that if we’re going to be able to compete at a high level in the future.”