Jalen Milroe shares his mindset after leading Alabama to 56-7 win in opener

Alabama trotted out quarterback Jalen Milroe as the starting quarterback for the opener against Middle Tennessee State on Saturday. And he didn’t disappoint, leading the team in both passing and rushing while Alabama dominated, 56-7.

But speaking with Cole Cubelic on the SEC Network after the game, Milroe wasn’t satisfied. He wants to keep pushing and building a rapport with his teammates. After one game, he’s eager to get ahold of the film and appraise everything.

“Honestly, my game as a whole. No. 1, I want to build on leadership,” Milroe said. “Leadership, pushing the guys, and leading the offense. I want them to trust in me that we can push this thing every single time we take the field. As far as the offense, I just want to continue to be — upfront, physical. As far as our guys playing fast, competing. So, overall with our game, I just want to improve.”

Milroe finished 13-of-18 passing for 194 yards and three touchdowns while carrying seven times for 48 yards and two more scores.

When asked about his ability to come out and be so effective, he demurred and credited teammates.

“Honestly, it came from the collective group, as a whole and our team, how we approach the season. It came from our summer workouts, it came from fall camp, it came from how we approached every day following, into the game. So I’m going to say that it’s our preparation that allowed the success for today. But I’m super proud of the team, super proud of how we came out here and competed. It’s a great team we played against and I’m just happy for all the guys,” Milroe said.

Milroe made history on Saturday night

Milroe put on quite the show in the first half and took advantage of his opportunity in the second half. We knew about his dual-threat ability, especially the feet. A few deep passes have maybe silenced doubters, even if Alabama was expected to cruise.

In fact, Milroe made a bit of Alabama offensive history — an impressive feat considering the recent quarterbacks in Tuscaloosa. He is the first QB to throw for three touchdowns and rush for an additional two. Not even Jalen Hurts, who won SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a true freshman, was able to put up those numbers.

Jalen Milroe is the first QB in @AlabamaFTBL history with 3 Pass TD and 2 Rush TD in a game 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9iko5asAjp

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 3, 2023

When speaking to Cubelic ahead of the game, Nick Saban said he just wanted to see a good performance out of Milroe. Confidence was going to be a good data point as well, especially being the veteran quarterback out of the group.

It’s safe to say Saban is going to be happy with Milroe when evaluating the tape on Sunday morning.

“I think it’s all about how he performs and how he plays,” Saban said pregame. “We want him to be confident in how he plays and what he’s doing. He’s prepared well. I think Tommy has a good job with him. I think we got a good plan. Just got to perform.”