Nick Saban says Alabama Crimson Tide has to learn from near upset loss to Texas Longhorns

Alabama coach Nick Saban said on Monday that players have to respect what it takes to win after narrowly surviving an upset bid on the road by unranked Texas on Saturday.

The No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide needed a last-minute field goal to beat the Longhorns in Austin, despite Texas losing starting quarterback Quinn Ewers to a shoulder injury in the first quarter.

Saban said there was a lot to learn after committing 15 penalties — one shy of a school record which was set in 2002.

«I think our guys played hard in the game,» he said. «They persevered in a game in tough circumstances. They overcame adversity. They showed great resiliency. But it's also about playing smart, having good discipline to execute, focus on what's in front of you, and do your job. And not only do your job, but do it fundamentally with the correct technique.»

Saban reiterated that cutting down on penalties comes down to making good decisions.

«We have officials out there [at practice] every day,» he said. «So we get a penalty report every day. Every player is confronted with, you made these penalties, whether it was offsides, pass interference, illegal motion on offense, whatever the penalty is. And those things are always emphasized. So it's not like this is sort of a resurrection of, 'Wow, we need to start doing something about this.' We've been doing it. Players need to make choices to have the discipline in the game. It doesn't do any good to try to create an advantage for yourself because you're not above the law.»

Saban brought up how his team was a three-touchdown favorite to beat Texas.

He then cited upsets over the weekend as Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State and Notre Dame lost to Marshall.

«There were two teams that I know of… that were