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Jalen Milroe had been benched. They’re saying it out loud now at Alabama, referring to that Week 3 near-disaster at South Florida.
The Crimson Tide’s now-star quarterback had thrown two interceptions the previous week in a loss to Texas and looked bad doing it. The 34-24 defeat was Alabama’s worst in a nonconference home game in 19 years. Nick Saban then told Milroe he was going to give backups Ty Simpson and Ty Buchner a shot the next week against the Bulls.
Never mind the pair were borderline awful in an ugly 17-3 win. It was more about how Milroe handled the news of being demoted.
Blame had cascaded down on top of the 20-year-old from Katy, Texas. Then he did something that not a lot of 20-year-olds do. He picked his head up and rebounded with a sense of maturity.
“I never doubted J-Mil even after the Texas game that we lost,” Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson said this week. “I kind of met with J-Mil alone. I told him I believe in him. I keep having faith [that] he will be the guy.”
At that point, the (Alabama) world was waiting to see what would happen next. A kid who had thrown 103 passes in 14 career games was at a crossroads because the program was at a crossroads.
There was the case of how the quarterback room got so inexperienced after the loss of overall No. 1 draft choice Bryce Young. There was the shaky foundation of a dynasty already playing in in the shadow of Georgia. Now, whatever happens this Championship Week, Milroe enters as the central figure. There is so much at stake orbiting around him he might as well be his own planet.
“Biggest thing? We’re not a finished product,” Milroe said. “That’s a scary thing.”
How he has gotten to that celestial level has become one of the best stories of the season. Since…
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Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2023-11-30 23:30:39
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