When Alabama had to have it from QB1, Jalen Milroe delivered.

Sure, you could say that sentence came a month too late. If Milroe had rallied Alabama back after a slow start against Texas, Saturday’s matchup at Texas A&M wouldn’t have felt so important. Of course, every person who took in the all-important showdown at Kyle Field knew what was on the line. It wasn’t just that both teams were trying to avoid that ever-deflating second loss. It was that with a win, Alabama or Texas A&M could be the last remaining unbeaten West team — in terms of SEC play — with a 3-0 record against divisional opponents.

High stakes? You bet.

The Tide had to get the best version of Milroe as a passer to keep those West hopes alive. Anything less than a career day and that path to Atlanta would’ve been suddenly loaded with potholes.

No big deal. QB1 acted like he had been there before.

Milroe was equal parts desperate and poised in a pivotal 26-20 victory at Kyle Field. A career day was had. A year removed from a 3-turnover day wherein the Tide had to sweat out his first career start at home as a 3-touchdown favorite against A&M, Milroe put the game away this time.

He had career-highs in:

  • Completions (21)
  • Pass attempts (33)
  • T-Passing TDs (3)
  • Passing yards (321)

Mind you, that came on the road against an A&M defense that racked up a combined 30 tackles for loss and 14 sacks in its first 2 SEC games, both of which were multi-score victories.

It’s not that Milroe was perfect against that loaded A&M defensive front. He still had instances where he struggled to sense backside pressure, which led to 4 A&M sacks in the first half. Milroe took 6 sacks on the day, which marked the 5th time in as many career starts against Power 5 competition in which he took at least 4 sacks. That’s the part of Milroe’s game that continues to be a work in progress.

On the next play, Milroe threw an interception because he failed to read the safety over the top. It was a 2-play stretch to forget, especially given the circumstances. It was the opening drive of the third quarter and Alabama trailed 17-10. Never mind the fact that in the previous 11 games of this rivalry since A&M joined the SEC, the winning team led at halftime. To that point, it looked like the same Milroe that was a turnover waiting to happen.

And after that point, all Milroe did was play like the season was on the line.

The connection he had with Jermaine Burton was unlike anything we had seen this year. A week after Alabama OC Tommy Rees only had Milroe attempt 12 passes against a struggling Mississippi State secondary, there was a clear desire for the Tide to target the A&M secondary with Burton in single coverage.

It didn’t matter that Burton entered Saturday with 8 catches for 189 yards on 13 targets, and he hadn’t hit the century mark in a game since his true freshman season at Georgia in 2020. Not only did Milroe match those pre-Week 6 targets to Burton on Saturday, but he also one-upped the connection. Burton finished with 9 catches for 197 yards and 2 scores.

That included what was easily the best Milroe throw of the day:

That highlight followed a Milroe overthrow of Burton, too. Yes, you’re still gonna get some of those moments with him. He’s not Bryce Young, or Mac Jones, or Tua Tagovailoa or Jalen Hurts. At his best, Milroe likely won’t play mistake-free football.

But look around the West. Nobody is playing mistake-free football. Shoot, LSU just had to rally late to avoid loss No. 3 at Missouri. Ole Miss couldn’t score a touchdown in the final 3 quarters at Alabama. And A&M watched its defense wilt down the stretch in its 2 biggest games of the season.

The West ain’t perfect. Bama ain’t perfect (those pre-snap penalties are a major issue).

Fittingly, neither is Milroe.

This version of Alabama was never supposed to be predicated on Milroe turning into a Heisman Trophy candidate. Of course, it would’ve been foolish to rule that out for any Alabama quarterback, even one who entered the year with a promising, but flawed small sample of live game reps like Milroe.

The version of Alabama that gets to Atlanta with Playoff hopes still on the line was supposed to have a quarterback who could expose weaknesses and make some highlight-reel plays while hoping that the Tide defense didn’t surrender 35 points and 500 yards of offense.

Winning close games isn’t easy, but it’s easier with Nick Saban on the sidelines. We actually saw that in the last 2 years when Alabama found itself in a 1-score game in the 4th quarter a whopping 12 times in 16 SEC games. All the attention was focused on the 2 last-second losses in 2022 when we should’ve probably talked about how it was still impressive that Alabama went 9-3 in those games the past 2 seasons. You’re not supposed to have a 75% success rate in those spots.

You’re also not supposed to commit 14 penalties for 99 yards against a talented team on the road and win. But hey, you can get away with that if your quarterback is poised and capable of operating behind the sticks.

Milroe might not turn into an All-SEC quarterback, and for all we know, this Alabama team won’t get to Atlanta with just 1 loss.

But the version of Milroe — the guy who hung tough when things weren’t going his way on Saturday — isn’t one that you should count out.