Jalen Milroe shines in starting role to begin Tide’s 2023 season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama center Seth McLaughlin felt his finger hit the lace and knew it meant trouble. After that was averted, though, he wanted to make up a story that Jalen Milroe paid him $20 to intentionally snap the ball past him on the Crimson Tide’s first series.
“Just so he could showcase what he could do,” McLaughlin said Saturday night.
The ball slipped by Milroe, who was making the second start of his career. The quarterback was quick to scoop it up, avoid a Middle Tennessee rusher and slip out of the backfield before taking off for a 21-yard touchdown and giving Alabama an early 7-0 lead in its season opener.
Milroe praised the players around him for making his first of five touchdowns possible – players who are all fully aware of the quarterback’s athleticism and ability to make plays like that.
“I know if you just keep blocking for him, he can make something happen,” McLaughlin said. “I’m thankful that he bailed me out.”
It was revealed Friday that Milroe was going to start Alabama’s Week 1 game after competing for the starting job all offseason. The redshirt sophomore ended up throwing for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 13-of-18 passing and helping the Tide cruise to a 56-7 victory.
“Jalen did a good job,” head coach Nick Saban said. “I think he’s had a good fall camp. I thought he played well in both scrimmages. I think he’s more confident, doing a good job in the passing game. His athleticism helps him. I mean, we score a touchdown on a fumbled snap, which wasn’t his fault. The center, the ball slipped out of his hand and rolled back. He picks it up and runs it for a touchdown. He’s a threat to pull the ball on the zone plays, which we scored on that.
“And I thought he threw the ball effectively. I thought he played well.
According to the SEC Network, Milroe became the first Alabama quarterback to throw for three touchdowns and run for two more in a single game. But it wasn’t a mistake-free outing.
“There was one play in the game where they ran sonic field blitz, which we were supposed to check out of the play,” Saban said. “We didn’t get it checked. So there’s always things like that you could do a little bit better, but I think that experience is basically an accumulation of things that you learn from the mistakes that you make. That’s what experience is.
“And I think as he continues to develop and gain experience, he’s gonna play better and better. But I thought he played well tonight.”
Milroe is known for being one of the most athletic players on the team, and that was on display with his 48 rushing yards on seven attempts (6.9 ypc). But he was also able to make plays with his arm, connecting on four passing plays of 15 or more yards. Three of those ended up in the end zone for an average of 41.3 yards per play, highlighting an impressive Week 1.
“That guy is a freak athlete,” McLaughlin said. “And he really got to showcase that out there.”
Milroe meets reporters after starting opener
For the first time all year long, an Alabama quarterback was made available to reporters. Milroe spoke for six minutes following his Week 1 start. Below is a transcript of everything he said.
Milroe on how he felt about how he played…
“Overall, it wasn’t clean. There’s a lot of things that we still need to improve on to be where we’re at as a team. We just wanna get one percent better. We’re gonna enjoy the win. They were a tough opponent, so we wanna take this 24-hour rule, like we say here, enjoy the win. No matter what, we got the win, so we’re gonna enjoy it and move on.”
Milroe on his own performance…
“Overall, I need to get better. I need to be better as a leader. I need to be better overall at what I’m doing. I just wanna continue to build and be the best version of myself when I take the field. There’s some things that I’m gonna look at with the coaching staff and my teammates, look at some things that I need to improve on. For sure, I’ve gotta get some things improved.”
Milroe on what was going through his head on his first touchdown…
“Honestly, it was all set up by my team. I was fortunate to pick the ball up and make a play with it, but it was all with the other 10 guys on the field that helped me get into the end zone.”
Milroe on how much he wants the deep ball to be part of his game…
“Every element of my game, I wanna improve on. It’s not one specific thing that I wanna improve on. But that element of my game has to be there so we push … and succeed throughout the year.”
Milroe on when he found out he was going to start…
“It was sometime during the week. I don’t remember exactly when. But no matter, if I was a backup or what, I still need to improve and build. So honestly, the whole room as a whole, we push each other. We build our chemistry together, our relationships. I’m proud of every game. That goes for Dylan. That goes for Eli. That goes for Ty, Tyler, the whole room as a whole.”
Milroe on if he had the mentality of not letting go of the job…
“Not necessarily. I was just worried about getting one percent better each and every day. No matter who’s on the field, they’re QB1, so I just wanna be the best teammate that I can and root for every guy that was on the field. No matter who it is, I just wanna be the best teammate I can.”
Milroe on where he was grown as a leader…
“Understanding my teammates. That’s the key. When I’m on the field, I want the guys around me to trust me and know that when I’m at quarterback, they can trust me and believe in me. But honestly, I believe it comes down to chemistry with your teammates and knowing each guy on the field.”
Milroe on Isaiah Bond lowering his shoulder set the tone physically…
“That’s Alabama football right there.”
Milroe on Amari Niblack and his development…
“I love him. No. 1, how he approaches practice. You can really see in a guy how he approaches practices, just how he’s just grown overall. With the time we had in the offseason, just him being hungry, him hitting me up, saying, ‘Hey, let’s go watch some film. Hey, let’s go run some routes.’ I think that’s key, and it factors into what happened today.”
Milroe on how he would grade his own performance…
“I let my coaches do that for me, but I know that I’m not where I wanna be at.”
Milroe on the biggest thing he needs to improve…
“Overall, my whole game. Like I said, we’re gonna take the 24-hour rule, enjoy the win because that was a tough opponent. It was a tough opponent, and it took a lot of preparation going into the week each and every day trying to build. So I’m gonna enjoy the win, but overall, I wanna improve my whole game.”
Milroe on the thing he did best today…
“Next play. Next-play mentality. No matter what happened, positive, negative, next play. I was gonna get a next play. So that was my key for every drive that we had.”
Milroe on what it will mean to start against Texas…
“Honestly, it’s just another opponent on the schedule. Just day by day, trying to improve, and Saturday, our success on that day is gonna come from our preparation throughout the week. So no matter what opponent it is, we’re just gonna take it one day at a time.”
Milroe on the importance of being turnover-free…
“That was key. When we go into preparation for every week, that’s some things that we talk about as a unit. And like I said, we’re proud of the win, just the growth that we had throughout the offseason, and that is one thing that we harp on as a whole. Ball team. Every day when we approach the facility and talk as a unit, it’s ball team.”
Milroe on the biggest thing he learned from Bryce Young…
“I think his leadership. His leadership and knowing that it takes all 11 guys to be successful. And then the awesome thing that Bryce has was how poised he was, calm, cool and collected. I think that’s the biggest thing of playing the quarterback position is being calm, cool and collected, and Bryce has all elements and every part of his game that allows him to succeed.”
Milroe on if starting against Texas will mean more to him being from Texas…
“Nah, it’s just another game on the schedule. No matter who’s in the game, it’s just gonna be a great moment. You’re just blessed to play the game. No matter who it is, I’m blessed to play the game. Just like today, the first thing I did was be appreciative to be able to play football.”
Milroe on if he has any Texas fans in his extended family…
“Yeah (laughs).”
Milroe on if he has any Texas fans in his immediate family…
“Yeah (laughs).”
Milroe on the biggest thing he needed to improve when reviewing last year…
“I think the biggest thing, just looking in the mirror. Just constantly wanting to improve, and that’s key for every person that tries to be successful is try to look in the mirror and try to build every day. That was the biggest thing that I did – look in the mirror and look at everything that I can try to improve on as a whole. So that was key.”
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