Jalen Milroe Explains What Happened on Final-Drive Clock Mismanagement

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After a close game in a hostile environment at Texas A&M and a wild third-down conversion, it appeared Alabama fans could breathe a sigh of relief. The Aggies were out of timeouts, and the Crimson Tide could just kneel the game away with 1:50 left on the clock.

Instead of getting in the victory formation, Alabama hurried to the line, and Jalen Milroe threw a pass to Malik Benson that bounced incomplete, and stopped the clock, giving Texas A&M a brief glimmer of hope.

"That play it still hurts to this day," Milroe said Monday. "That wasn’t a smart play by me. I should’ve just handed the ball off. That was not part of the play at all. I should’ve just handed the ball off. That’s definitely something I can build off of and learn off of. That was not part of the play, and I should’ve handed the ball off.”

It all ended up working out as Milroe scrambled around and launched the ball on fourth down to eventually run out the clock, but the mistake on first down could have been disastrous for the Crimson Tide.

On his postgame show, Saban said Alabama was trying to hurry and get a play off in case the third-down play from Milroe to Jase McClellan was reviewed and overturned. Overall, the Alabama head coach is pleased with the way Milroe is learning and growing from mistakes.

"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," Saban said Monday. "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 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."

Alabama would go on to hold on for the 26-20 win over Texas A&M and improve to 5-1 (3-0 SEC.)