Alabama football news: Nick Saban sends important message after ugly loss to Texas

Something surprising has already happened to Nick Saban and his No. 3 Alabama football team just a couple of weeks into their 2023 campaign. They now have their first loss of the season.

The Crimson Tide faced a big matchup in Week 2. They played against former assistant coach Steve Sarkisian and his No. 10 Texas Longhorns. Unfortunately for Alabama football, they didn’t perform well and made a lot of mistakes. This led to a 34-24 loss. This defeat was not only unexpected but also a rare occurrence for the team. It marked only the ninth time that Alabama football had lost a game at home during Saban’s time as the head coach in Tuscaloosa. What’s even more remarkable is that it was the first time they lost by more than ten points at home.

Jalen Milroe was in his second game as Alabama’s starting quarterback. He clearly faced some big challenges in this game. He completed 14 of 27 passes for 255 yards and managed to score two touchdowns. However, he also threw two interceptions and was sacked five times by the Longhorns. On the defensive side of things, Kevin Steele was in charge. That said, his unit struggled to stop big plays and committed costly penalties.

Keep in mind that Alabama football had been on a remarkable 21-game winning streak at home. They they hadn’t lost a regular-season game to a nonconference team in 57 games. That dated back to Nick Saban’s debut season in 2007. Losing this game was a big blow to their winning streaks and to their season moving forward.