Jalen Milroe on quick pass late at Texas A&M: ‘That wasn’t a smart play by me’
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nick Saban said Alabama’s 26-20 win at Texas A&M on Saturday might have been “a record game” for him in terms of so many mistakes but still winning a game.
In addition to the Crimson Tide’s 14 penalties, Saban pointed out the clock mismanagement in the final minutes as one of the glaring issues for his Alabama team in College Station. After running back Jase McClellan gained eight yards on 3rd and 7, quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a quick pass to Malik Benson that bounced to the wide receiver, stopping the clock.
Saban called a timeout and was irate with the decision to throw the ball rather than either run the ball or kneel it to end the game and ensure the 6-point road win. On The Nick Saban Show, which aired on Sunday night, Saban discussed the late mistake by his quarterback.
“The only reason we were going to run a play is we were hurrying up to run a play because we didn’t know if they would review the knee being down on the conversion,” Saban said after the game. “Otherwise, we’re kneeling on the ball. He throws the ball out there and stops the clock.
“Just things like that are all, sort of, learning lessons we need to learn from so we don’t have those issues in the future and give our opponents opportunities.”
Understanding that Milroe was trying to hurry up and run a play makes sense at the moment as to not allow an official review, but the Alabama signal-caller knows he should have handed it off to his running back rather than put the ball in the air and not allowing the clock to run.
“That play is still hurting me to this day,” Milroe said Monday. “That wasn’t a smart play by me. I should have just handed the ball off. That’s definitely something I can build off of and learn off of because that was not a part of the play. I should have handed the ball off.”
Alabama did run the ball on second and third down, but Milroe had to roll out to his right to kill time before launching a ball downfield to end the contest. It worked out, but his blunder could have given Texas A&M one last shot to tie and potentially win the SEC West battle.
Other than the miscue, however, Milroe played well in the return to his home state. He threw for a career-high 321 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 21-of-33 passing. Milroe was among the seven players recognized as a player of the week by Alabama’s coaches, and the head coach continues to be pleased with the progress the quarterback has shown.
“I think the big thing that we’ve tried to continue to get him to understand is you’ve got to keep playing the next play,” Saban said. “There’s not always going to be perfect plays, but whatever happened on the last play is a learning experience for you to grow and get better and focus on what you have to do the next play. You cannot allow one play to affect the next play.
“That’s something I think he’s learned and doing a lot better. But he’s staying much more positive on the sidelines, communicating really well with his teammates and the coaches in terms of what he saw and what he didn’t see and what he needs to do to get it corrected. That’s something that comes a little bit with experience, but I think it also comes with awareness.
“I think we’re making progress in both areas.”
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