Why did Alabama throw instead of kneel at end of Texas A&M game?
Alabama football left viewers scratching their heads on Saturday, when the Crimson Tide could have taken a knee on first down with 1:50 left and run out the clock against Texas A&M. Instead, quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a pass to wideout Malik Benson.
The pass fell incomplete and instead of being able to kneel twice more and end the game, Alabama had to run a fourth-down play to finish it out, with Milroe wasting clock before throwing the ball incomplete with no time left. According to the quarterback on Monday, the snafu was on him.
“Yeah that play is still burning and hurts me to this day,” Milroe said. “That wasn’t a smart play by me. I should just handed the ball off that play but that was not a 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 because that was not a part of the play. I should have handed the ball off.”
Saban reportedly said on his postgame television show that the Crimson Tide were running to the line of scrimmage to try and beat a possible review after barely converting a third down on the prior play. Milroe was running fast and got too excited when he saw the coverage situation on Benson.
Alabama wasn’t the only team with a serious game management issue Saturday. At least the Tide came out of its game with a win, Miami lost to Georgia Tech after fumbling on a run play when it could have run out the clock with a kneeldown for a victory.
“Our players showed the competitive spirit, the resilient attitude to overcome adversity,” Saban said in his postgame press conference. “A lot of which we created for ourselves. Having 14 penalties in the game, mismanaging thing in the clock at the ends of the end of the game, really gave them opportunities. We need to be able to fix those things so we don’t help the other team.”
Alabama will be back in action Saturday at 11 a.m. against Arkansas. The game will be aired on ESPN.