Throughout the 2023 season, quarterback Jalen Milroe has been Alabama football’s most consistent rushing option. He has gone for 287 yards this season, not accounting for sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

But in Saturday’s matchup with Texas A&M, Milroe was held stagnant. He only rushed once, picking up 12 yards according to PFF.

On the stat sheet, which counts sacks as lost rushing yard for the quarterback, he officially finished with -31 yards. The team finished with just 66 sack-adjusted rushing yards.

“I think it was a combination of both,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said when asked whether the lack of production was due to the Crimson Tide or good defense by the Aggies. “I think that we miss ID’d some plays in terms of who we were blocking and where we’re going to. I think we missed some things on some of their stunts and pressures. They’re front seven is really good. We had some other plays that if we finished blocks we would have much more productive plays. So we got to do a better job of finishing.

Instead of rushing so much, Milroe took to the air. A week after the Tide threw the ball just 12 times against Mississippi State, the quarterback had 33 attempts against TAMU.

It worked out well, as he completed 21 throws for 321 yard and three touchdowns. He said Monday that the plan hadn’t necessarily been for him to run less, but Alabama adjusted.

“Just taking what the defense gave,” Milroe said. “That was definitely a challenge for us playing at Texas a&m on the road. They gave us a lot of problems and our key thing just being a problem solver. It was just key to be the point guard on the field, take what was given and that was key. So it wasn’t really predetermined at all, it just came with the flow of the game.”

Alabama will face off with Arkansas this week in Tuscaloosa. The Razorbacks rank No. 43 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense a far cry from the Aggies, who sit at No. 10 after Saturday’s game.

Still, Arkansas can create some problems, especially for an Alabama offensive line that has had its share of struggles this year. Saban said Monday that the group will need to play better for the offense to click on all cylinders moving forward.

“We got to do a better job of finishing,” Saban said. We also knew going into the game it was going to be tough-sledding up front. We were gonna have to be able to throw the ball effectively. I was really pleased with that part of it. We still gotta work on protections and how we protect the quarterback.”

Alabama and Arkansas will face off at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on CBS.

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