COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Alabama head coach Nick Saban was not happy with the way his team finished its 47-28 win over Texas A&M on Saturday, especially when it came to penalties.

The Crimson Tide was penalized 11 times inside Kyle Field, which matched its season-high at South Carolina. One of those resulted in receiver DeVonta Smith being ejected from the game, which led to Saban sharing his disappointment the team “didn’t really finish the game with class.”

“Basically, he got hit, punched and he retaliated,” Saban said. “We’ll have to wait on the conference office to see what his status is, so it was offsetting fouls. Obviously, their player shouldn’t have punched him, but he also should have had the discipline not to hit him back, aight, because that’s a foul. We would have gotten a 15-yard penalty, and that would have basically ended the game.”

In the fourth quarter, Texas A&M safety Leon O'Neal tossed Smith to the ground and threw a punch at his helmet when the two of them got to their feet. Smith, like Saban said, retaliated and punched O’Neal in the helmet. Both players were flagged, but only Smith was ejected from the game.

They both throw a punch but the Bama player gets ejected. ?? pic.twitter.com/uiujXtDGc5 — Belle Es You (@SouthernbeLLSU) October 12, 2019

Crimson Tide wideout Henry Ruggs III watched the incident unfold on the field

“It was back and forth. I can’t really say what went through his head, but the guy slammed him on the ground and the guy swung on him. I don’t really know how to say what he was feeling. You just could see his reaction to it.”

According to the NCAA rulebook, “when a player is disqualified from the game due to a flagrant personal foul, or flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct, NCAA shall where possible initiate a video review for possible additional sanctions before the next scheduled game.”

So, Smith’s status for next week’s game against Tennessee remains uncertain. Just like the Vols will be without starting linebacker Henry To'o To'o, who was ejected for targeting this weekend.

Alabama was on the other side of an ejection earlier this season. Duke defensive lineman Edgar Cerenord was sent to the locker room after punching and stepping on offensive lineman Landon Dickerson. Cerenord missed the first half of the Blue Devils’ next game versus North Carolina A&T.

“It’s just playing hard,” Dickerson said. “Obviously, we try to play with emotion and not be emotional, so it got a hold of us a little bit there. Toward the end, we’ve just got to be resilient, especially at the end of the game. We can’t make stupid mistakes. We’ve just got to learn from it. It’s in the past, you can’t dwell on it, but you’ve got to learn from it and not do it again.”

Overall, Alabama committed 11 penalties in its most recent win, which is the third time this year the Tide has been flagged 10 or more times in a single game. Moving forward, Saban wants to see that number dwindle, especially when the team is trying to milk the clock in the fourth quarter.

“We also got another penalty for pushing the pile at the end of the game, which we’re trying to take the air out of the ball so the other team can’t get the ball back,” Saban said. “You can’t get penalties. ... Just didn’t finish the game like we need to finish the game. You don’t want to give good teams the ball back, aight. You want to win the game on offense, take the air out of it and not give them extra possessions.”

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