While the final score of Saturday night’s season opener against Western Kentucky indicated that the miscue had no impact, the Alabama Crimson Tide was no stranger to botched snaps throughout last season.
It’s okay, you don’t have to admit that you got scared during Alabama’s botched snap in the 63-0 season-opening victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday night.
While the final score indicated that the miscue had no impact, the Crimson Tide was no stranger to botched snaps throughout last season. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and now-Ohio State transfer center Seth McLaughlin weren’t on the same page numerous times last season and it often cost the Crimson Tide points.
However, quarterback Jalen Milroe, who lost the fumble, assured after the game that this was just a simple mistake as the combination of excitement and nerves took over due to the season opener setting.
“It was just jitters,” Milroe said. It’s the first game of the season, and you know you’re getting acclimated to the game. Mistakes happen, but of course, it’s collaborative. It’s something that we can both look at and reflect on how we can improve. It’s just first-game jitters, and we just want to build and improve off of it.”
The flow of emotions is easy to understand for Milroe, as Saturday’s season opener was far more different than any other first Crimson Tide football game in recent memory, and that’s due to legendary head coach Nick Saban not being on the sideline with a headset on. The 72-year-old retired on Jan. 10, and Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer was hired as his successor, meaning more eyes were on this game than a typical matchup between an SEC team and a Group of Five team.
DeBoer explained during the postgame that although the result of the evening was a dominant one in his team’s favor, there were some negative things, including the botched snap.
“We had a communication,” DeBoer said. “I think we didn’t snap the ball. I think maybe Parker was trying to signal something and get the line locked in and that’s just a quarterback and center being on the same page and then all the sudden it was time to snap the ball when Jalen clapped so just things like that that we can continue to get better at.”
Regardless, Milroe had a very solid outing, as he completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for 200 yards (22.2 yards per completion) and three touchdowns. The dual-threat also logged 10 carries for 79 yards and two more scores. Milroe evening ended in the third quarter as Alabama was up by a decisive 56-0 at the time.
