Jalen Milroe takes positive steps forward in win over Mizzou

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The story surrounding Alabama football in its loss to Tennessee last week was the play of quarterback Jalen Milroe.

And rightfully so. Milroe played one of his worst games in an Alabama uniform against the Vols, leading to the Crimson Tide’s second loss of the season. Under fire all week, Milroe needed a much better game against Missouri, not just for his own sake, but for Alabama’s if it wanted to stay alive for any dreams of making the College Football Playoff.

While Milroe wasn’t perfect, he made positive strides. He completed 16-of-26 passes for 215 yards in the game, while adding 51 yards and a touchdown with his legs. He looked increasingly more comfortable as the game went on, going from looking timid and unsure of his decisions in the first quarter to standing tall in the pocket and delivering throws over the middle in the fourth.

A large aspect of Milroe’s improved play over the course of the game was Alabama’s ability to run the football. The Crimson Tide had more success running the ball than it has in any SEC game this year, and it made life easier on Milroe throughout the afternoon as the defense wore down.

After the game, head coach Kalen DeBoer said cleaning up minor mistakes would go a long way in aiding Milroe, keeping he and the offense out of difficult situations.

“There’s still even more things we can do better, we’ve got to stay out of situations where our backs are to the wall,” DeBoer said. “We can’t be in 1st-and-25 or whatever it was on just a simple play where we get 12. We can’t have illegal chop blocks. We’ve got to be clean across the board, help Jalen out. It’s an easy nice throw, gets him into a rhythm to start a drive, those are the type of things we have to help him. Sometimes he doesn’t make the throw that you want, or he wants, but then there’s other times where guys have to make sure they stay the course and run the route the way it needs to be run. Everything we’ve got to keep learning from.”

DeBoer praised Milroe for his communication in the game, specifically with his wide receivers in between drives.

“The things that didn’t quite click, it’s really close. Just go back to work, make those corrections, communicate,” DeBoer said. “That’s what I saw on the sideline. I saw some receivers and J-Mil continue to iron things out. Just finding that level of being in sync at the elite level. It’s still not there yet, but I think we did take a step forward.”

Milroe stressed the importance of communication himself, saying that was the main focus throughout the week in preparation for the game.

“I think it starts with communication. Coach Sheridan and Coach DeBoer talk about it during the week, how can we be great communicators?” Milroe said. “I think that’s so important for us as an offense, how we can communicate at our best and how we can be effective when we communicate. I think that’s something we did well throughout the whole game, throughout the week of prep. I just try to see football through the lens of a playcaller and our head coach. It’s been great to have that opportunity to put on display all that we’ve been working on this week.”

Milroe’s improvement is a welcomed sight for an Alabama offense that desperately needed to show some life, especially after two straight weeks of difficulties and borderline ineptitude.

As Alabama continues to build towards its goals, with everything still to play for, Milroe said it main message to the team is still what is has been all season.

“As cliché as it is, 1-0. Every opportunity we have, we’re going to be our best, the requirement to play is to be our best at everything that we do,” Milroe said. “But we acknowledge playing in the SEC is a very hard task. We have some good plays, we have some plays we want back, but the best mindset is going 1-0 and finish. That’s one of our core values as a program is to finish, so that was the ultimate thing going into the second half. No matter what game, no matter what score it is, the second half is all about finish and disciplined football, and all about committing to the details.”