By now, talking heads have second-guessed decisions in the Rose Bowl. Reporters have asked all of those involved for explanations.

However, Nick Saban pointed to two things, he said, had direct impacts on Alabama’s 27-20 overtime loss to No. 1 Michigan in the CFP semifinal game on Jan. 1.

Michigan huddles. The 72-year-old coach reveals it was “a big difference in this game, which no one talks about.” He admits it is a simple thing.

“When you play a no-huddle team and you’re not going fast, which we didn’t go fast enough, then their signal-caller is basically making calls to defend the formation and the alignment that you are in,” Saban explained in his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

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The problem is, he explained, the reverse is also true.

“They’re the only team that we played all season that got into a huddle. So, you know, it used to be every team was in a huddle. We play our first team of the season where we’re playing a team in a huddle, so you don’t have the advantage of seeing those formations until they come out of the huddle, so you got to make the calls.”

In other words, unless your no-huddle has a tempo, the defense can call its play, knowing the opponents’ formation. In the Rose Bowl, Alabama’s defensive coaches had to call alignments without seeing the Wolverines’ formation because there wasn’t time.

Ironic, since Michigan took its time with a huddle.

Speaking of time, both teams used their allotment of timeouts in overtime. As Saban previously told reporters, the Tide had the look it liked on the final play of overtime, but Michigan called timeout. After changing the personnel and formation, Saban then called timeout because he didn’t like the look he got from Michigan.

Once again, the personnel and formation were changed. And once again, he didn’t like the look, but he was out of timeouts.

“We should’ve looked the play,” he explained. “When I say look the play, line up in the formation and see what they are in and have a second thing you can go to. We didn’t do that.

“That was our fault as coaches.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.