No doubt about it, Nick Saban’s coaching cost Alabama vs. Texas A&M

Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s coaching cost in the fourth quarter cost them a win against Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Alabama Crimson Tide were undefeated when walking onto Kyle Field on Saturday night. Sure, they had a close call earlier in the season against Florida, but did anyone believe that the Crimson Tide would struggle against Texas A&M? Well, the Aggies proved the nation wrong.

Texas A&M defeated Alabama 41-38 to notch the biggest upset win of the season. Seriously, it is a no-contest. When fans of the Crimson Tide look back at this game, they will point to some coaching decisions made by Nick Saban.

Saban is usually without criticism, but two of his former Heisman winners, DeVonta Smith and Mark Ingram were critical of red zone play-calling.

Nick Saban’s play-calls in the red zone proved to be costly

Trailing 31-27 in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tide offense made it all the way to the Aggies’ four-yard line. Despite the field positioning, Saban opted against using his rushing attack and instead decided to pass it on three consecutive plays, all of which were incomplete. On fourth-and-goal, Saban decided to go for the field goal to cut their deficit to 31-30 instead of taking another crack at making it to the end zone.

The decision looked to have paid off at first, considering the Crimson Tide scored a touchdown on a Jameson Williams reception and were successful on the two-point conversion to take the 38-31 lead. But, in hindsight, the choice by Saban cost them more than helped them.

Texas A&M would not have been in the situation where they could kick the game-winning field goal in the closing seconds of regulation. If Saban had either attempted to run the ball or go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal earlier in the fourth quarter, Texas A&M would have needed to get in the end zone to win.

This will be a game that Saban and Alabama will use as motivation for the remainder of the season. While they lost, the Crimson Tide are still far from out of the national championship hunt.

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