No crystal ball required: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe’s true test

Milroe] getting more experience moving forward,” a press reporter stated after Saturday night’s 56-7 win over Middle Tennessee in which Milroe got the start at quarterback and scored 5 goals.”How do you believe tonight’s favorable performance will help him moving on to next week and beyond?”Saban recoiled. “So you’re asking me to hypothesize and address a concern about

how some man’s going to carry out in the future? “he said. “I don’t actually know. I like him. I think he’s succeeding. I understand he’s striving to try to improve. He’s a great competitor. He’ll do whatever he can to play his best.”Saban then got a soda sitting atop the podium.”This is a Coke bottle,” he said,”it’s not a crystal ball.” OK, but why the hostility? Milroe finished 13 of 18 passes for 194 backyards. The redshirt sophomore and former backup to Bryce Young became the very first Alabama quarterback ever to toss 3 touchdowns and rush for two ratings in a game. And he had no turnovers. Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill raved about how”vibrant”of a runner he was and what”excellent touch”he put on his passes. “It begins with No. 4,” Stockstill said of the Alabama offense.

“He’s pretty dadgum special.”Why then was Saban so reticent to speak about Milroe’s future? He singled out Milroe

‘s only significant mistake. It was early in the game and the defense dialed up a play– sonic field blitz– that Alabama had actually prepared for. But rather of having a look at of the play– a toss sweep– like he was supposed to, Milroe did nothing. The defense overran the best side of the line and running back Jase McClellan was picked up a 5-yard loss. Right tackle JC Latham whipped around to Milroe and tossed his hands up as if to ask, what gives?Editor’s Picks 2 Associated On paper, Milroe looked best, earning SEC Offensive Gamer of the Week. But obviously that wasn’t the

whole story.On paper, absolutely nothing actually changed. When the depth chart came out for No. 3 Alabama’s marquee game against No. 11 Texas on Saturday( 7 p.m. ET, ESPN), Milroe was still listed as co-starter alongside Tyler Buchner, Ty Simpson and Dylan Lonergan.Milroe passed the practice examination against Middle Tennessee.Now comes the genuine test versus a top-15 opponent, versus his home state school, versus a program he grew up rooting for and a school he as soon as planned to

attend.TO UNDERSTAND HOW Milroe got here– on the precipice of being the full-time starting quarterback of a playoff-caliber team– begin with the very first jersey he ever bought. It was charred orange, No. 10, with the last name Young written across the back.Growing up in Katy, about a two-hour drive east from Austin, Milroe’s preferred player was Vince Young, the All-American and previous first-round pick who led Texas to the championship game in 2005. Asked Saturday whether he had members of his extended household who root for the Longhorns, Milroe admitted sheepishly,”

Yeah.”And what about his instant family?Again, sheepishly, Milroe said,”Yeah. “So it’s no surprise that when he had his choice of colleges, he at first devoted to Texas and its former head coach Tom Herman. The video of him announcing his commitment– hook ’em horns sign and all– is still up on his social networks accounts from the summer season of 2019

. It’s time … pic.twitter.com/zrHSNS2F6e!.?.!— Jalen Milroe(@JalenMilroe)July 22, 2019 Alabama was in the mix, having actually provided him a scholarship 2 and a half months prior to he devoted to Texas– and 3 months after Strategy A, Carson Beck, decommitted from the Tide.Then-offensive planner Steve Sarkisian– now the head coach at Texas– remembered Milroe coming to a camp in Tuscaloosa and being impressed by his

physical abilities as much as his intangibles. His father was a Marine and his mom was in the Navy. Sarkisian thought that

military background played a part in Milroe’s work principles and the way he brought himself.”We sort of kept chopping wood in the recruitment process,”Sarkisian stated.

“And in the end I just felt that there was so much upside. The physical ability that he had: the arm skill, the legs, the leadership. “A year after committing to Texas, Milroe turned his dedication to Alabama. He informed 247Sports at the time that with Sarkisian he ‘d receive training”for the future.”Because Sarkisian had actually been an OC in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, Milroe said,

“He knows what it requires to get to that point.”However two weeks after locking in that future by signing a letter of intent, Sarkisian took the job at– of all locations– Texas. “I was sort of kicking myself a little, “Sarkisian stated.”

But that becomes part of it.”Sarkisian said it takes place a lot where you learn more about players and they end up at other programs.”You root for them,”he said, “however not this Saturday.”Speaking as the head coach at Texas– who comprehends the expectations and even fuels them a bit– Sarkisian is more interested in

limiting Milroe’s big-play capability than reliving the past.After watching Alabama’s performance in Week 1 the important things that concerned him most, he stated, was their balance offensively. Against Middle Tennessee, the Crimson Tide had 226 yards passing and 205 lawns rushing.Sarkisian acknowledged Milroe’s arm and how he can make”every include the book– off-platform, on the run

, doesn’t matter.” But the most difficult thing they’ll have to do on Saturday, he stated, is consist of Milroe when he flees the pocket.” He’s an elite runner with the ball in his hands, with his speed and his physicality,”Sarkisian stated.

“And he’s extremely competitive.”Case in point: Milroe’s first bring of the season when a bad snap landed at his feet and he didn’t quit on the play. He chased the ball 5 lawns behind him, scooped it up, shrugged off one potential

tackler and danced through a collapsing pocket. With a sliver of a lane to run through, he removed, broke containment and avoided four more would-be tacklers en route to the end zone for a 21-yard goal. McClellan was not shocked. He ‘d seen those improvisational skills in practice often times.”When he gets in space,” McClellan said,” that’s what he does.”4 hundred or two miles away, Milroe’s predecessor, Young, watched with pride. The No. 1 overall choice in the 2023 NFL draft said he ‘d seen the work Milroe put in behind the scenes the past 2 years and understood a moment like Saturday’s game versus Middle Tennessee was possible.”J-Mil balled out,”Young

stated.”For me, I’ve had the ability to see him grow and simply continue to improve in all elements– from on the field and off the field, his understanding of the game and the offense,

his command, everything on the field, continues to grow. That’s my person. That’s my brother. So I’m extremely delighted for him. “Not that long earlier, Alabama had another quarterback like that– strong and athletic and a little unpolished as a passer. He was from Texas and he was called Jalen, too.In February, Jalen Harms was

a finalist for the NFL MVP and led the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. Jalen Milroe set an Alabama quarterback record with three passing goals and another 2 on the ground throughout the Tide’s Week 1 win. Kevin C. Cox/Getty

Images OK, SO MAYBE we’re getting ahead of ourselves.Take a step back to last season and Milroe’s eight looks when he threw an overall of 5 goals and 3 interceptions.

He completed just 58.5%of his passes and balanced only 5.6 backyards per attempt.Does one game of 3 goals, no interceptions, 72.2

%conclusions and 12.9 yards per attempt eliminate all of that?Does it count if it’s against Middle Tennessee and not the University of Tennessee?The quality of professional athlete Milroe will face against Texas will be much different. The windows he’ll need to throw into will be much smaller sized and the players tackling him will be much larger.Oh, and the stakes will be much higher.But you know who’s taking it all in stride? Milroe.Saban would have been proud of the way his quarterback didn’t give an inch throughout his postgame interview last weekend

. Consistently, Milroe diverted the focus far from himself and back to the team.How do you think you played?”There’s a lot of things that we still need to enhance on … as a group. We simply want to get 1 percent better.”How did you score on that bad

breeze?”The other 10 people on the field that helped me enter the end zone. “What was it like discovering you would start?”The room as a whole, we press each other. … I’m proud of every man– that goes for

Dylan, that chooses Eli [

Holstein], that goes for Ty and Tyler.

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Update to a Disney Bundle plan and begin streaming something for everybody today! The only question that tripped him up was about some members of his family still rooting for Texas. But even then he firmly insisted that

it didn’t make Saturday’s game any more or less unique.”Simply another opponent on

the schedule,”he said.”Just day by day attempting to improve.”Discuss relying on the process.He set a school record and said on Monday,”It was a start. “He wanted to value the win, of course,” However also look in the mirror and attempt to look at how I might be a better leader. How I could be a much better passer? How can I be more effective?” Cornerback Terrion Arnold is one of Milroe’s closest friends on the group, so it depended on him to shed some light on his state of mind. On Monday, Arnold stated,” J-Mil is my LANK bro.”LANK, Arnold described, is an acronym the players created this offseason. It stands for,” Let all the cynics know.”That, Arnold stated, is exactly what Milroe did against Middle Tennessee.”People have actually been questioning him and kind of stating he can’t

play the position,” he said. “He’s put in a lot of work, so

it’s great to see him grow.

And I anticipate seeing him have success. “What his future holds, not even Saban’s Coke bottle understands.