Roman Harper: Alabama football was 'sleepwalking' in loss at Texas A&M

The Alabama football team on display last Saturday was like none former Crimson Tide safety Roman Harper has ever seen. If there’s one thing coach Nick Saban prides himself on, it’s the approach to the game.

But Alabama showed none of the typical toughness Saturday in a 41-38 loss to Texas A&M. Harper took to the Paul Finebaum Show to offer his frustrations.

“I’ve never seen a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team have that many players play that bad all in the same game at one time before,” he said. “It’s almost like they were sleepwalking. I saw how good they could be against an Ole Miss team when they were motivated, when they were talked about in the newspaper that they actually felt challenged. Then, they walked into Kyle Field and thought Texas A&M was going to be the same team they were the last few weeks and you did not get that same opponent.”

The Crimson Tide allowed the most points they had all season and enabled Aggies quarterback Zach Calzada to have his best game of the year. The redshirt sophomore torched the defense for 285 yards and three touchdowns, easily finding open receivers.

Even for all its mistakes, the Crimson Tide still had a chance to win late. A touchdown from Jameson Williams put them up late in the fourth quarter. However, Calzada threw the game-tying touchdown to Ainias Smith on the next possession. Alabama then went three-and-out, opening the door for Seth Small to kick the game-winning field goal.

“Alabama made so many unforced errors when it came to coverage breakdowns,” Harper said. “I was so happy at the end of the game that they lost that game. I was, Paul. It just kind of lets me know that ball don’t lie. You get exactly what you deserve in this football game. If you do the right things all the time, you’re probably going to get the results that you want.”

Alabama will work to rectify its mistakes against the passing game when it faces Mississippi State at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday in Starkville. The Bulldogs are a perfect candidate to practice against as they average 56.8 passing attempts per game.

There has been a lot of talk about the Crimson Tide and whether this team is on the same level as some in the past. Alabama football will look to get back to playing the way Roman Harper and so many others are used to Saturday.