Jermaine Burton had made the catch. Off a deflection in the end zone that could have easily been an interception, Alabama football’s receiver brought in the ball for what looked like a touchdown.

Unfortunately for Alabama, a flag was on the ground. Darrian Dalcourt had been around 10-yards down the field, far past the limit of three, and was called for a penalty.

The Crimson Tide could have used the points at that moment of the game, early in the second quarter. Instead, it settled for a Will Reichard field goal.

Alabama went into halftime down 13-6. The offensive line struggled throughout the first half, with Milroe having to run for his life on various occasions.

Burton made a second play early in the second half. He caught a pass from Milroe, who was escaping pressure, then made a few moves. He found the end zone, completing a 32-yard touchdown play.

Again, the flag was on the field. This time it was a holding call on freshman tackle Kadyn Proctor, who grabbed a Texas player during Milroe’s scramble.

That drive also ended with a Reichard field goal. Midway through the third quarter and Alabama already had 14 points points likely erased by offensive line penalties.

With 6:26 left entering a long television timeout, the Tide were down four, with Texas leaning 13-9.

Alabama coach Nick Saban had made a point in the offseason to try and reduce Alabama’s penalties, which cost the Tide last season.

“Got lots of penalties on the line of scrimmage (last season),” Saban said in August. “Got a lot of penalties on offense on the line of scrimmage, a lot of pre-snap penalties — which those are sort of a lack of discipline. So we’ve tried to do things in practice to get guys to play with more discipline, to watch the ball, not jump offsides, not have illegal formations, have better communication with the quarterbacks so we don’t have false starts. And I think we’ve made some progress in those areas.”

The game, still in progress, is being aired on ESPN.