Kirk Herbstreit previews the dynamic QB matchup between Jalen Milroe, Quinn Ewers in Alabama vs. Texas

Alabama has had mobile quarterbacks before, but it hasn’t ever had anyone quite like Jalen Milroe.

The sophomore has elite speed and can make defenders look silly as they try to tackle him. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was on SportsCenter Saturday morning and said he is anxious to see Milroe and the new-look Crimson Tide offense against Texas in its first true test of the season Saturday night.

“You’ve gotta keep in mind a couple of things. It’s not just Jalen Milroe. It’s a new offensive coordinator,” Herbstreit said. “At the end of last year, I think there was a sense that Nick Saban, remember, he used to be an old school guy — defense, run the football with Derrick Henry. Then he went to Lane Kiffin and Sark and Locksley and he opened things up. There’s a lot of talk they might go back to being more of an old school approach.”

It certainly seemed that way in the opener against Middle Tennessee.

Alabama attempted only 24 passes, compared to 40 rushing attempts. Some of that was likely due to the game being a blow out, but that is still a fairly high percentage of runs.

Jalen Milroe impressed with both his arm and his legs in Week 1, passing for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 18 attempts, while rushing for 48 yards and two scores. Herbstreit came away impressed by the performance.

“We’ve only seen one game, but Jalen Milroe brings obviously an athletic dimension to this position,” Herbstreit said. “Bryce Young did, too, but Bryce Young would scramble to throw. What we’ve seen from Milroe was he can do that, but he is a legit threat when he breaks out to be able to run the football.”

As for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, he uses his legs when he needs to. But what makes Ewers tough to handle is his arm.

The sophomore impressed for the Longhorns last year against Alabama, before leaving the game with an injury in the first quarter. Ewers was 9-for-12 passing for 134 yards, prior to getting hurt.

Herbstreit is looking forward to seeing what he can do against the Alabama defense Saturday night.

“Then you have Quinn Ewers. He played so well last year in Austin against that Alabama defense before he went down with the injury. … He was on fire,” Herbstreit said. “He comes in, I think, a different guy with a year under his belt. He’s dropped a lot of weight, more committed. I think the players around him believe in him more. It’s a benchmark game, really, for Texas to find out where they are in Year 3 with Sark.”