Penalties, penalties, penalties.

One of Alabama’s biggest struggles last season was its tendency to shoot itself in the foot. After being flagged just twice during last week's season opener against Middle Tennessee State, it appears its penalty problems have stuck around.

No. 3 Alabama was penalized 10 times for 90 yards during Saturday's 34-24 loss to No. 11 Texas. That came after the Crimson Tide was flagged 15 times for 100 yards during last year's narrow win over the Longhorns.

Saturday, several undisciplined mistakes on both sides of the ball resulted in loss of yards and costly plays.

Not once, but twice, Jermaine Burton had a touchdown pass called back due to a flag. The first score was wiped out due to an ineligible-player-downfield call on right guard Darrian Dalcourt in the second quarter after Burton dove to catch a 15-yard pass from Jalen Milroe in the end zone. The receiver was then robbed of a 32-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter after left tackle Kadyn Proctor was called for holding.

Both times Alabama settled for field goals.

“It’s great to have emotion and play with emotion, everyone should have that,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said when asked about his teams' penalties after the game. “But that emotion needs to be channeled into tangible, functional execution. If you get emotional, then you make bad choices and decisions…whether you make mistakes on defense, snap the ball poorly, or jump offsides.”

The atmosphere inside Bryant-Denny Stadium was electric as Tuscaloosa played host to ESPN's College GameDay for college football's matchup of the week. While that allowed emotions to get the better of some players, the Crimson Tide wasn't making excuses for its lack of discipline following the loss.

“Just undisciplined," said left tackle J.C. Latham, who was flagged for a false start in the third quarter. "I'm trying to do better and that’s on me. Just undisciplined as a group.”

Along with wiping out a pair of touchdowns, Alabama gave Texas four first downs off of penalties, including an offsides flag on fourth-and-3 late in the fourth quarter which allowed the Longhorns to run out the clock.

“Penalties definitely hurt quite a bit,” said redshirt sophomore Deontae Lawson. “It’s something we’ve been emphasizing and it’s something we still have to work on.”

Going from a Middle Tennessee State game last week with only two penalties, to this game having 10 calls, the massive increase in the penalty tally is surprising. Though the atmosphere against the Longhorns was much larger than it was during week one, the player’s mindsets should all be the same.

“I feel like everybody’s got to keep their poise,” said graduate Malachi Moore. “Everybody just has to keep calm and execute.”

While not getting the expected result out of the game of the week matchup against the Longhorns, a major factor of the loss comes from penalties. Already being a focal point coming into this season, it appears that it will continually be a focal point during the season as well.