Tyler Booker breaks down why Alabama offensive line struggled with false starts
The Alabama offensive line had some good moments against Texas A&M, for sure. But the group also had its share of struggles and seemed bothered by the crowd at Kyle Field.
Alabama committed nine false start penalties during the 26-20 win, including seven by offensive linemen.
Crimson Tide left guard Tyler Booker joined The Next Round on Monday and shared why the offensive line struggled with false starts against the Aggies.
“The reason why there were some penalties – Texas A&M, they actually started doing some shifts. And we usually hear those move calls. So we were bracing for the move calls. We just weren’t ready for the movement,” Booker said. “So whenever you see movement up front, and we’re already going on a silent count, that’s just something we have to be better on, too, you know. But it was our first time doing it in a very hostile environment. I’m glad it worked, for the most part.”
Booker added that outside of the penalties, there are other areas where the Alabama offensive line needs to continue to grow.
Still, he was proud of the Crimson Tide for finding a way to win a tough SEC road game.
“It’s just all about getting better week-by-week,” Booker said. “Yea, we’ve got to cut out the penalties. Yea, we’ve got to cut out the sacks. There’s a lot of room for us to improve, but at the end of the day, we still allowed Jalen [Milroe] to throw for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns. … I’m excited to see how much better we get.”
Nick Saban jokes about setting record for mess-ups while still winning against Texas A&M
It wasn’t just mistakes by the offensive line that Alabama had to overcome on Saturday.
Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban believes his team set a personal record for the most “mess-ups” in one game to occur while Alabama still ended up on the winning end.
“This may be a record game for me in terms of messing up and still winning,” Saban said during his postgame press conference. “It might be a record. If you take the mess-ups and the penalties and you add them all together.”
Not playing clean football has contributed to each of Alabama’s losses over the past two seasons. Against Tennessee and LSU in 2022, and Texas this season, the Crimson Tide made uncharacteristic mistakes. It’s not something we are used to seeing from a team led by Nick Saban, but the good news for Alabama is it overcame those mistakes on Saturday to earn a key road win.