Jalen Milroe shares admiration for Vince Young as a child

Jalen Milroe was a big Vince Young fan growing up, but the Alabama quarterback is going to have to let the former Texas quarterback down Saturday.

The Crimson Tide play the Longhorns in Tuscaloosa and presumably, Young will watch his alma mater try and pull an upset. Maybe Young admires Milroe’s play this season as Milroe did of Young years ago.

Sure, Milroe isn’t rooting for Texas Saturday, but he looked up to Young and certainly will try and play like him, being a dual threat quarterback.

“So Vince Young, Vince Young, so I did watch (him) as far as his highlights and then my family loved Vince,” Milroe said. “So growing up I was a Vince Young fan, he was my first jersey that I bought. And yeah I love Vince Young.”

Alabama fans would love Milroe to emulate Young in Saturday’s game against Texas and for the entire season for that matter.

In his starting debut, Milroe led Alabama’s domination of Middle Tennessee in Week 1, going 13-of-18 passing for 194 yards, three touchdowns, 48 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground.

That’s a pretty good start on the surface.

“Well he’s made a lot of progress as a player, and what he’s done is, he’s learned to process better. Make better choices and decisions, so it minimizes his bad plays,” head coach Nick Saban said Friday on The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s always had a tremendous capacity to make big plays, explosive plays. He’s one of the fastest guys on the team. So when he pulls it down and takes off, it makes a difference, and it creates problems for the defense, and I think this can help us re-establish being a more balanced team, as well. His athleticism, and what it does to a defense.

“When you run the zone-read even, the end is supposed to take the quarterback. Well if the end can’t take the quarterback and that guy takes off, that guy can’t close as far to help on the dive. So all those things compliment each other.”

Alas, Milroe’s Week 1 performance did nothing but lend positive reinforcement to Saban’s decision to start the quarterback in 2023. However, the Longhorns represent a whole different animal.

Perhaps Milroe will put on a performance worthy of the former Heisman Trophy winner Young. A national championship wouldn’t hurt either.

Alabama hosts Texas Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa.