Sleeper game? Not so much.

Alabama rolled to a 49-21 blowout victory against Kentucky to clinch the SEC West title. UK had only run 4 offensive plays by the time Alabama was up 21-0. It was that kind of day for the home team.

As for the visiting Tide, well, things went about as smoothly as Nick Saban could’ve hoped for.

Here are 3 takeaways from Alabama’s blowout win in Lexington:

1. Jalen Milroe played through a thigh injury and did so at a high level

Milroe became the first Alabama player with 3 passing touchdowns and 3 rushing touchdowns in a game. Historic? You bet. Never mind the fact that he was without his go-to target Jermaine Burton (illness) and that he took an awkward hit to his left thigh on the opening series and he had moments throughout the day in which he was limping and staying loose on the exercise bike.

Outside of a throw he made across his body that Kentucky picked off, Milroe was brilliant. He finished the day with the 6 total scores with 273 total yards (240 passing, 33 rushing) for an Alabama offense that hit 42 points in consecutive weeks.

Perhaps Milroe has a path to New York after all.

2. It’s a good thing for Kentucky that win No. 6 is in the books

Yuck. Any hope that Kentucky would start this game like its previous noon home game against SEC competition was short-lived. Here is the sequence to kick off the game:

  • Alabama TD drive
  • Kentucky 3-and-out
  • Alabama TD drive
  • Kentucky fumble on first play
  • Alabama TD drive

Not ideal. Also not ideal? Ray Davis being held to 26 yards on 12 carries. Devin Leary looked better than he did early in the season, but Kentucky wasn’t going to beat a team like Alabama unless it could establish some balance.

Well, not getting consistent stops on the Alabama offense had something to do with that, too.

Kentucky has established itself as the true median of the SEC in 2023. The Cats have 4 SEC losses to teams with a winning conference record and none of their 3 wins came against teams without a winning conference record.

With the home slate closed, trips to South Carolina and Louisville await. Maybe that’ll be what the doctor ordered after 3 SEC losses in Lexington in 2023.

3. The drought is over … Alabama is going to Atlanta

Alabama went a whole year without earning a trip to the SEC Championship. No more. The Tide will be heading to Atlanta for the first time since … 2021. While that was all but clinched last week against LSU, it’s worth noting that Alabama still needed to get 1 more victory or 1 more Ole Miss loss to guarantee that.

It’s wild to think that the Tide clinched its 10th SEC West title since Saban’s arrival in Tuscaloosa. It’s also now 3 of the last 4 years that Alabama represented the West in Atlanta.

For all the talk of the dynasty being dead, Alabama is very much alive, just like those Playoff chances.