Kalen DeBoer raves about Jalen Milroe's growth after Georgia win

Jalen Milroe dazzled on Saturday night, piloting Alabama to a signature win over Georgia early in Kalen DeBoer’s tenure with his star-turned offensive performance.

In leading the Crimson Tide to a 41-34 win, Milroe not only accumulated nearly 500 total yards of offense, but delivered a stunning, late-game go-ahead touchdown pass to freshman Ryan Williams. It was a performance that DeBoer said he felt was coming after Milroe perhaps turned a corner during recent practices while Alabama had a bye.

And perhaps even scarier, as impressed as DeBoer was on Saturday, he thinks Milroe has room to grow, still.

“Yeah, coming out of the gates and I really felt like the last two weeks of practice, there was steps that were made and some little things,” DeBoer said on the ABC broadcast postgame. “And he’s got more ahead of him, too. There’s more room to grow. He did a great job. We gave him some time, he got comfortable early and he did with his legs and through the air.”

All told, Milroe finished with 491 yards of total offense and four touchdowns. He passed for 374 of those yards on 27-of-33 attempts with two touchdowns while rushing for 117 more and two more touchdowns. He accounted for three of those scores in the first 20 minutes of the game, as Alabama poured on an early 28-0 onslaught.

But Georgia would get back in the game, clawing back and clawing back before taking a 34-33 lead with under five minutes to play. It was at that point that Milroe stepped up and delivered what will be an iconic pass in Alabama football lore, a pirouetting sideline grab by Williams preceding an equally impressive run for the game-winning score.

“They’re a great football team,” DeBoer said. “You know that you’re going to get that push back by them and I’m proud of our guys coming back with a little fire power of our own and making our plays when we needed it most.”

And at the very end, Alabama needed a defensive play to seal the deal as Georgia drove down in the red zone, trailing by seven with under a minute to play. Bulldogs quarterback Carson Back threw an outside comeback to the left pylon, but freshman Alabama defensive back Zabien Brown got his eyes around, two hands on the ball, and came away with the game-deciding play.

After getting picked on from time-to-time earlier, DeBoer was confident Brown would step up when needed.

“I know he’s a smart guy and sooner or later he’d read what was going on and make a play,” DeBoer said. “Super proud of the young guy learning. He’s only going to continue to get better. He’s a heck of a player.”

And for DeBoer, just four games into his Alabama tenure, Saturday night was a heck of a win.