Current:Home > NewsJalen Milroe, Ryan Williams uncork an Alabama football party, humble Georgia, Kirby Smart-InfoLens
Jalen Milroe, Ryan Williams uncork an Alabama football party, humble Georgia, Kirby Smart
View Date:2025-01-09 08:17:22
- Alabama football's next great quarterback is born. Jalen Milroe becomes a hero while Alabama humbles Georgia.
- Kalen DeBoer coached circles around Kirby Smart until Georgia's furious rally.
- Who needs Nick Saban? Not Jalen Milroe. He's perfect for Kalen DeBoer.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Pandomonium filled the air, and Bryant-Denny swelled with so much energy it's a wonder it didn't burst.
Alabama fans hugged and chest bumped and high-fived and shook pompoms and generally lost their minds.
Amid all that euphoria, Jalen Milroe stood calmly on the turf and extended two fingers in the air.
Alabama's star quarterback had just completed the biggest pass of his career. More work to do, though. The 2-point conversion awaited.
Milroe completed that, too. Is there anything he can't do? Not on this night.
Milroe completed nearly every pass he threw. He juked and sprinted and turned corners with the speed of a track sprinter and the power of a fullback. He laid waste to Kirby Smart's defense in a way few have.
On a night of celebration here, No. 4 Alabama recaptured exalted status, Milroe ascended to superhero fame, and the Crimson Tide humbled No. 1 Georgia, 41-34.
Jalen Milroe to Ryan Williams sends Alabama football into euphoria
Even a premier quarterback needs a little help from his friends. Milroe threw so many pinpoint passes that led his receivers to the perfect spot on the field and left Georgia's defenders no hope.
But, Milroe's 75-yard touchdown pass that gave Kalen DeBoer a statement victory in his first SEC game? That was a jump ball into 1-on-1 coverage.
Who better to throw it to than than 17-year-old Ryan Williams, Alabama's wunderkind wide receiver?
"I just have so much trust in him," Milroe said.
Williams outdueled Georgia defensive back Julian Humphrey to come down with the catch. Oh, but he wasn't finished.
Williams had 45 yards to go to the end zone. He spun and sprinted and stiff-armed his way across the goal line and provided Alabama with some sweet, sweet ecstasy after it frittered away every bit of its 23-point halftime lead.
Alabama makes a statement, before Georgia rallies
Who needs Nick Saban? Not Milroe. Not Alabama (4-0). Not anymore, anyway.
The GOAT passed this program into capable hands. He also left a great quarterback in the cupboard. DeBoer and Milroe are cooking. Together, they roasted Georgia.
"We had a solution to everything they were going to present to us," Milroe said.
Billed as a showdown, this became a beatdown – for three quarters, anyway.
Georgia mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally and captured the lead with less than 3 minutes remaining before Milroe responded with his final haymaker.
Milroe finished with 491 combined yards and enough highlights to fill a Heisman reel.
Milroe played like a complete package, while Georgia’s Carson Beck threw two interceptions and lost a fumble before carving up Alabama's secondary throughout a furious finish. His third interception of the game ended the Bulldogs' hopes for good.
Georgia (3-1) looked overmatched, outwitted and outmuscled from the opening drive, when Milroe steered the Crimson Tide 70 yards with such ease that you could’ve mistaken Georgia for pushovers. Never mind that Georgia had not allowed a touchdown throughout its first three games.
Smart built a fierce defense while winning consecutive national titles. That unit’s long gone.
Jalen Milroe takes flight after Nick Saban retires, hands reins to Kalen DeBoer
Jan. 10 became a mournful day for Alabama fans. They grieved Saban’s retirement and laid Coca-Colas, Little Debbie oatmeal pies and pompoms at the foot of Saban’s statue.
He’s alive, folks. Saban just hung up his whistle – and, for Milroe, how fortunate that he did.
Tommy Rees, Saban’s final offensive coordinator, proved a poor choice. Liberated from Rees and Saban, Milroe looks like a different quarterback, an elite quarterback, as he stars for DeBoer.
DMX’s “Party Up” blared on the stadium sound system after Alabama reached a crisp 30 points in the second quarter after scoring a safety. The DJ chose the right tune for the moment. The party was, indeed, on, and it stayed that way, right up until Georgia's fourth-quarter stampede nearly spoiled the moment.
Georgia's rally gave Milroe one final grand stage. He seized the moment.
While Williams celebrated his touchdown to cap a 177-yard receiving night, Milroe held those two fingers in the air.
"I think it's so important at the quarterback position to be calm, cool, collected," Milroe said.
Unflappable 'til the end.
Alabama's next star quarterback is born.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
Subscribe to read all of his columns.
veryGood! (24693)
Related
- Singles' Day vs. Black Friday: Which Has the Best Deals for Smart Shoppers?
- 12-year-old girl killed on couch after gunshots fired into Florida home
- Back in Black: Josh Jacobs ends holdout with the Raiders, agrees to one-year deal
- UK flights are being delayed and canceled as a ‘technical issue’ hits air traffic control
- Black women notch historic Senate wins in an election year defined by potential firsts
- Whatever happened to the bird-saving brothers of Oscar-nommed doc 'All that Breathes'?
- A groundbreaking exhibition on the National Mall shows monuments aren't set in stone
- Keke Palmer Celebrates 30th Birthday With Darius Jackson Amid Breakup Rumors
- Bodyless head washes ashore on a South Florida beach
- Italy's Milan records hottest day in 260 years as Europe sizzles in another heat wave
Ranking
- Deion Sanders says he would prevent Shedeur Sanders from going to wrong team in NFL draft
- MLK Jr.'s daughter reflects on her father’s ‘I have a dream’ speech: 5 Things podcast
- Ryan Reynolds ditches the trolling to celebrate wife Blake Lively in a sweet birthday post
- Trump campaign reports raising more than $7 million after Georgia booking
- These Yellowstone Gift Guide Picks Will Make You Feel Like You’re on the Dutton Ranch
- Arleen Sorkin, 'incredibly talented' voice of Harley Quinn, 'Days of Our Lives' star, dies at 67
- Illegal logging thrives in Mexico City’s forest-covered boroughs, as locals strive to plant trees
- Loving mother. Devoted father 'taken away from us forever: Families mourn Jacksonville shooting victims
Recommendation
-
Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
-
Simone Biles prioritizes safety over scores. Gymnastics officials should do same | Opinion
-
Heineken sells its Russia operations for 1 euro
-
Missouri's ban on gender-affirming health care for minors can take effect next week, judge rules
-
Martin Scorsese on faith in filmmaking, ‘The Saints’ and what his next movie might be
-
Indianapolis police say officer killed machete-wielding man
-
What happens to Wagner Group now? What Prigozhin's presumed death could mean for the mercenary troops
-
Kim Cattrall and Other TV Stars Who Returned to the Hit Shows They Left