Nick Saban evaluates performance from Jalen Milroe, assesses close win over Arkansas
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Nick Saban and Alabama ran the show in the first half Saturday afternoon.
The Tide led Arkansas 24-7 early and looked to be sailing to an easy SEC West win ahead of a rivalry matchup against Tennessee in Week 8. But it didn’t quite go down as we all thought.
The Razorbacks put up a heck of a fight in the 2nd half but fell just short following a strong drive by Jalen Milroe to end the game, 24-21.
Saban assessed his team’s performance just before heading back to the locker room. Here’s what he had to say:
“We played pretty good until it was 24-7,” Saban said. “We got 2 3rd-down penalties, they got back in the game, scored and we lost our momentum… we’ve got to learn to play for 60 minutes and finish the game, which we really didn’t do like we needed to today. But I think we’ll learn from it and be better for the next challenge.”
But he was mostly please with Jalen Milroe’s performance, especially in the first half. The Alabama starter is growing in his role with the team, and Saturday’s game was perhaps the best indicator of that, despite a so-so final score.
Here’s what Saban had to say about the play from his QB1:
“I think Jalen did a great job in the first half, he missed about 2 or 4 throws in the second half – both high, whatever,” He said. “I don’t know if it was pressure in the pocket or not getting his feet set but he’ll learn from it and get better as well.”
More from Saban at his postgame press conference is coming soon. Stay tuned to hear more from Saban’s 200th win at Alabama.
Ethan Stone is a Saturday Down South News Editor and an advocate for the return of the Seattle Supersonics.
