Paul Finebaum praises Jalen Milroe, explains how he has brought optimism back to Alabama

Just like that, Alabama fans have reason to be giddy about the most important position in the sport. Quarterback Jalen Milroe put on a show in his Crimson Tide debut on Saturday. On “The Matt Barrie Show” on Sunday, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum broke down the performance and its impact.

“We could have been in deep depression today talking about Alabama but instead the optimism is literally through the roof after what we saw,” Finebaum said. “I’m always hesitant to jump too much into it but it was live competition. It was much easier than the competition that he’d been dealing with in scrimmages so far. And you could see it, he looked like a free man in Paris yesterday.

“Not everything he did was perfect, but most of what he did was and he clearly has established himself as the guy, and really I’m not overly concerned about what’s behind him because he gets a start against Texas and I think those who were predicting bad tidings for Alabama are now switching, maybe too quickly, but they’re switching, nevertheless.”

There was little Milroe did wrong. In Alabama’s 56-7 beatdown of Middle Tennessee State, the redshirt sophomore completed 13/18 pass attempts for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Additionally, Milroe collected seven carries for a team-high 48 rushing yards.

The performance was a fantastic surprise for Alabama fans, who weren’t aware of who would be QB1 until hours before the game. Judging from Saturday, Finebaum believes Alabama has found its knight in shining armor.

“Somebody needs to be a leader, but you can’t be a leader until you do something. He’s done it,” Finebaum said. “[Tyler] Buchner and Ty Simpson and all the other fourth-string quarterback — which we heard way too much about three weeks ago — forget it. I think you’re going to see that team rally around [Milroe].

“Is it a false flag? I’ll let you know in a week. But it’s momentum and I think Alabama needed it because this has been kind of a rough offseason,” Finebaum said. “Now, you’re gonna hear Alabama fans calling that crazy show down south that we love: ‘Paul that’s why Nick Saban has been smiling all along. He knew it.’ By the way, hge did not know it. I think he hoped but there’s nobody who knew it.”

Milroe looked like an All-American against Middle Tennessee State. However, he’ll face his first true test next week. On Saturday, Alabama will take on No. 11 Texas at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.