Nick Saban addresses Alabama’s issues in pass protection during loss to Texas

Jalen Milroe was sacked five times during Alabama‘s 34-24 loss to Texas during Week 2. It’s no surprise that head coach Nick Saban called on his offensive line to step in light of last Saturday’s loss.

“I think we gave up one sack on a pressure. Most of it was we gave up sacks on a three-man rush. We gave up several sacks on four-man rushes,” Saban said on Monday. “I think we’re too soft-setting in the line. We’ve got to be firmer in protection. The pocket can’t collapse. But people have to get open.

“The quarterback has to process quickly and get the ball out of his hand. We can’t hold the ball, so it’s a combination of all those things that I think was a problem. But it wasn’t like there was some scheme that they were running that we didn’t have that picked up. We just didn’t get them blocked like we need to.”

Milroe was proactive with his feet but was only able to average 2.9 yards per attempt on 15 total rushes. If he wasn’t such a prolific of a rusher as he is, Milroe would have been sacked more than half a dozen times against the Longhorns.

Still, it’s not Milroe’s fault he’s being forced to make plays on his feet during designed pass plays. It starts with the front five, and Saban is going to need a bit more effort out of everyone involved this weekend against South Florida this weekend.

“The identity that we’d like to have is to be physical enough to be able to run the ball consistently effectively, but also be able to have a good play-action game to go with it, be able to drop back when we need to and be efficient and effective in all those areas,” Saban said. “I can’t say that we were in this game other than making some explosive plays. We didn’t do that well enough.”

Luckily for Alabama, the Week 2 loss was early enough in the season to where the Crimson Tide should be able to rebound unscathed long-term if they can improve up front. One more loss could ruin all of that, so the Crimson Tide will have to tread lightly unless Saban and company will miss out on the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season.

Kickoff between the Crimson Tide and Bulls is set for 3:30 p.m. ET live on ABC inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

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