Alabama's Jalen Milroe and Parker Brailsford Share Responsibility on Fumbled Snap

The Crimson Tide's mishandled snap in the shadow of the goal line added to the offensive issues Alabama has to correct.

Parker Brailsford / Alabama Athletics

The Crimson Tide's 26-point victory over South Florida in Week 2 doesn't accurately depict how close the contest was between the two programs on Saturday night.

The Bulls threw everything at the Alabama offense, holding the Crimson Tide to 393 yards of offense in the game, but only 14 points and 189 yards in the game's first three quarters. The Crimson Tide exploded in the fourth quarter, but not before committing one more critical mistake, a fumbled snap in the shadow of the endzone while looking to extend the lead.

"That's all on me. I've got to do better under center," Jalen Milroe said directly after the game. "I've got to do a better job of communicating early on, especially with the shot-clock, especially when we're so close to the endzone. So I take full ownership of that. I've got to be better on our end. So moving forward, that's something I've got to improve on."

The fumbled snap served as the third of the Tide's three turnovers and gave Alabama fans flashbacks to last season when Milroe often had trouble with snaps from former center Seth McLaughlin. It's still early in the year, but a concerning trend is building as new center Parker Brailsford snapped a ball over Milroe's head in the first week from the shotgun, resulting in a lost fumble. The pair misfired again in Week 2, this time from under center, resulting in the second lost possession due to a snapping issue in two straight weeks.

"Well, you know, I'm not putting that all on Parker, that's for sure," Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic said. "There were some communication issues, kinda got rushed, so we'll share the blame and obviously it's catastrophic to have a fumbled snap any time. But down there - I don't need to say anything, right? Everybody understands what that means. We work it every day and we'll continue to work every day and it's making sure everybody's on the same page and doing the right thing."

The Crimson Tide goes into its first hostile environment this week as they'll face Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium, but the pair is putting in the time this week in order to avoid making a third miscue in three weeks.