Tim Tebow explains how Jalen Milroe has turned Alabama's season around

Everybody wrote off Alabama after Week 2’s loss to Texas. More importantly, everyone — including Nick Saban — wrote off Jalen Milroe by sending him to the bench the following week against USF.

Milroe earned his job back the following week — and Alabama hasn’t looked back, rattling off seven consecutive wins since losing to the Longhorns in Tuscaloosa. Tim Tebow joined SportsCenter on Saturday ahead of the Crimson Tide’s matchup vs. Kentucky to reveal why teams shouldn’t want to play Alabama — and why Milroe is the reason for their success.

“Well listen, the reason they’re scary right now — yes, they have a lot of great players — but it starts with the quarterback Jalen Milroe,” Tebow said. “Someone that so many people wanted to write off early in the year when he wasn’t playing quite as confident against Texas, but now he is dynamic and it starts with his legs. … This dude is playing different. He’s playing with confidence. He’s playing with decision-making, and most importantly — he’s playing like a dude.”

Tebow went through some of Milroe’s film against LSU last week to prove his point. In particular, Alabama has done well with its basic zone read option plays, but the Crimson Tide have spiced things up having been running quarterback keepers disguised as zone reads as well. This gives the running back the ability to not only knowingly make the block but also allows Alabama to pull its guards to cover all of Milroe’s bases. He does the rest from there by either running over a defender or moving the chains.

Milroe was masterful on Saturday against the Tigers, completing 15-of-23 passes for 219 yards throughout the 42-28 win. While he could not throw a touchdown pass during the contest — he more than made up for it on the ground boasting 20 carries for 155 yards and four touchdowns, rivaling LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ production in the process.

“Look at what he’s playing with — it’s confidence, it’s fear, and then he’ll turn and look at [the defender] and say ‘Get your weight up,'” Tebow continued. “… He’s playing so decisive, different from the beginning of the year, and his athleticism takes over.”

Milroe is going to try and replicate last week’s performance in Lexington for an SEC showdown against Kentucky. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon ET live on ESPN. The Crimson Tide are 11-point betting favorites on the road, per Vegas Insider. The over/under line is set at 46.5 points.