Most Alabama football fans have seen a wide range of rumors about what happened last week with the Crimson Tide quarterbacks. Most, but not all of the rumors centered on Jalen Milroe.
Midweek of college football’s week four, what happened last week does not much matter. Certainly for the Alabama football team, moving on from whatever happened is essential. Jalen Milroe will start on Saturday. It is possible another Crimson Tide quarterback will also play before the game’s outcome is determined.
Because there were so many rumors and some were far less plausible than others, I’m offering my perspective on what I think happened. Before diving in, let me be clear I am a fan of every Alabama Football quarterback. I want all of them to do well and yes that would not change if Tyler Buchner is inserted into another game.
I have no reason to believe any of them are anything but fine young men.
More than anything else a quarterback can bring to a game, Nick Saban wants as close to mistake-free football as possible. Jalen Milroe was not able to provide that against Texas. I am not buying the rumor that a sulking Milroe skipped Sunday video review sessions. What I find plausible is when the sessions occurred, he did not have good answers for his mental mistakes against Texas.
I also believe Nick Saban and Tommy Rees wanted very much to see Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson in action with the first unit against USF. It was the perfect game to test the unproven Tide QBs.
As many have claimed, I believe that Jalen Milroe did not respond favorably to not starting. As a result, I am guessing Saban and Rees decided to not play him at all against USF.
At some point after that, and clearly obvious on Saturday, Milroe went back to fully being the supportive teammate he has always been known to be.
Alabama Football Controversy?
Players connect with some teammates more than others. Many Crimson Tide players probably prefer Milroe at quarterback. I don’t buy any of them playing less hard for another QB. Players get frustrated when individuals or the team performs poorly. But every Crimson Tide player, especially those with NFL aspirations, will rally around the best players. Milroe being well-liked does not mean Alabama players would have been disappointed if Tyler Buchner had played well on Saturday.
There are no guarantees for what comes next for Alabama Football. But even in peak-Dynasty years, no college football program is invincible.