Governor criticizes Alabama’s play-calling

Everybody’s a coach, it seems, and even Nick Saban isn’t immune from the second-guessing.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, appearing on a Birmingham sports talk radio show, joined the chorus of fans questioning the play-calling on the final series against Texas A&M Saturday that might have cost Alabama a shot at the national championship.

Trailing 29-24 in the final minutes of play and with first and goal inside the Aggie 6 yard line, the Tide ran the ball once and threw three passes, the last of which was intercepted.

Asked by host Paul Finebaum “would you have run the ball on the 2 yard line?” Bentley, an Alabama alumnus, responded, “I would actually have run the ball for four straight times.”

Hindsight, as they say, is always 20-20, but since A.J. McCarron had already passed for more than 300 yards on the Aggie defense, while the Tide had run for 122, it’s understandable why Saban and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeir decided a pass was the better option on fourth and goal.

Saban wasn’t second-guessing Nussmeir but seemed to leave the door open to the critics.

“I think he’s doing fine,” Saban said of Nussmeir. “We’re pleased with the progress that we’ve made offensively and the consistency that we’ve played with. Are there things we can do better? No doubt. Are there some situations in games that maybe we could have managed differently and done better? I don’t think there’s any doubt.”

Situations like fourth and goal from the two?