Jalen Milroe on pace to make more Alabama football history

Jalen Milroe has had his ups and downs so far this season, but he is playing well enough right now to have Alabama in position to make the College Football Playoff. He is also on pace to do something that has only happened 4 times in the history of Alabama football, or at least since 1949 which are the oldest stats I could find.

Milroe currently leads the team in both passing and rushing yards. If this holds for the remainder of the season, it would be the first time it has occurred in 45 years. And history says that every Alabama fan needs to be cheering for this to happen. Let's look at that history before we get into the why we need it to happen part.

Bobby Jackson (1958)

Bobby Jackson was the first player in Alabama history to lead the team in both passing and rushing yards in a season. Again, based on the stats I was able to find. He was also Bear Bryant's first ever quarterback. That year he rushed for 472 yards and passed for 408. It is crazy how low those numbers are. My how times have changed am I right?

Pat Trammell (1959)

Pat Trammell was the starting quarterback on the undefeated 1961 National Championship team. Bear Bryant's first National Championship. But prior to that season, he led Alabama in both rushing and passing yards during the 1959 season. 525 rushing and 293 passing. Trammell was also the SEC Player of the Year in 1961, earning him First-Team All-SEC and Second-Team All-American honors. He passed away at 28 years old from cancer, but his legacy at Alabama lives on through the Pat Trammell Award which is awarded annually to Alabama Football Players.

Ken Stabler (1966)

Not just an Alabama great but a football great in general. All-SEC, All-American, National Champion, Super Bowl Champion, NFL MVP, and NFL Hall of Famer are just some of his accomplishments. One could make the case that this all started in 1966 when Stabler took over the starting job at Alabama and led the team in both passing and rushing yards with 956 and 397 respectively. Fun story, I got Ken Stabler's autograph on the Quad when I was like 8 years old. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted to tell everyone. When I was telling my grandmother and asked her if she knew who "Snake" was, she laughed at me. Everyone knew who "Snake" was.

Steadman Shealey (1979)

Steadman Shealey was the starting quarterback at Alabama for the 1979 National Championship team. Bear Bryant's final National Championship. He led the team in passing and rushing yards, 791 rushing and 717 passing. It's crazy how low these passing yard numbers are. Anyway, Shealey was also a member of the 1978 National Championship team. So, we've got four of Bear Bryant's Championships on this list including his first and last.

Present Day

Now we are back to the present day where Jalen Milroe currently leads Alabama in both rushing and passing yards. Through 10 games he has passed for 2,232 yards and rushed for 608. He will obviously be the passing yards leader, and he is 96 yards in front of running back Jam Miller (512) for the lead in team rushing yards. Now to break down the numbers a little bit.

Miller is averaging 51.2 yards per game while Milroe is averaging 60.8. Now let's assume that Alabama plays 16 games this season, which we should all be hoping they do. They could potentially play 17 games but that would mean making the SEC Championship game, losing, and still making the playoffs. We don't assume bad things over here. Most of the time.

Anyway 16 games. If Miller's averages hold then he would finish the season with 819 rushing yards. That would be the lowest rushing yard total by Alabama's leading running back since Ahmaad Galloway finished with 659 in 2000. That would also end a streak of three consecutive years that Alabama has had a 1,000-yard rusher.

However, if Milroe's averages hold he would finish the year with 973 rushing yards. If he's able to boost those averages just a little he could be that 1,000-yard rusher. Alabama has never had 4 consecutive years where a player met that number, so even more history. And Milroe certainly has the ability to do so. He has gone over 100 yards twice this season, most recently 185 yards against LSU. We will just ignore his performances of 2, 10, and 11 yards earlier this year.

Now for the choose your own adventure part of this stat. And I am going to put a positive spin on both of them because I am awesome. And if I've learned anything in my time writing about sports it's this. With enough research, you can pretty much make any stat mean whatever you want it to mean. So here we go.

Three out of 4 of the quarterbacks that have led a season in passing and rushing yards won a National Championship while at Alabama. That's 75%. 75% is pretty good, I'd take those odds any day. Granted only Steadman Shealy actually won the Championship in the year he accomplished this feat. Pat Trammell did it before his championship season and Ken Stabler did it after his. And Ken Stabler won his Championship as a backup. Semantics really. Either way, a championship is a championship. So basically, what I'm saying is if Milroe pulls off leading the team in both this year, there's a 75% chance that Alabama wins the National Championship. Then there's that other 25%.

Bobby Jackson did not win a National Championship while at Alabama. He was the starting quarterback the season before Bear Bryant arrived and then again in his first season. Just like Jalen Milroe was the starter last year and again this year for Kalen Deboer's first season at Alabama. That correlation would mean Alabama would not win a National Championship this season. Bummer I know. But here's my positive spin on things. A. Jalen Milroe leads Alabama in passing and rushing yards this year and Alabama wins a National Championship. Or B. Jalen Milroe leads Alabama in passing and rushing yards this season, Alabama doesn't win it all, and then Kalen Deboer goes on to win 6 National Championships at Alabama. That's what happened with Bear Bryant after Bobby Jackson did it.

That might have gotten a little confusing, so I'll simplify it a little. I am basically saying that since this is Jalen Milroe's last season at Alabama if he leads the team in both categories, there's a 75% chance that Alabama wins a National Championship this year. If he leads the team in both categories and they don't win it this year, there is a 100% chance that Alabama will win 6 National Championships under Kalen Deboer. That's how stats work, right? I think so.

Do you want a little peak behind the curtain here? I had written this entire article and the premise of it was that Alabama was definitely going to win a championship this year because every quarterback to lead in passing and rushing yards for a season had won one. Then when I was looking back over those stats, I realized I had missed Bobby Jackson doing so in 1958. And Bobby Jackson didn't win a championship. Thanks a lot, Bobby. And then after adding Bobby to the list I had to do some serious mental gymnastics to figure out how I was going to spin this one. Honestly, I think I stuck the landing. So, shoutout Bobby Jackson for being the first Alabama quarterback to pull this off, and shoutout me and my "journalistic" integrity. I could have easily left him off this list because, let's be honest, none of you reading this would have checked me on it. Instead, I still found a way to turn it into a "useful" stat.

So, there you go. Alabama is in a great spot for this year, or an even better spot for the future, if Milroe leads the team in passing and rushing yards. But if neither of those two statements end up being true, I'll just find us all another stat that makes things look positive. That is my personal guarantee to you, my valued reader.

And if nothing else, today you learned the four Alabama quarterbacks that have led an Alabama season in both rushing and passing yards and that Jalen Milroe is on pace to be the fifth. That's a fun trivia question for your next party. I probably could have just written that and kept it moving, but where's the fun in that? Anyway, we all should be cheering for Jalen Milroe to pull this off. And if anyone has Kalen Deboer's phone number, please let him know about the championships part. He needs to be made aware of what's at stake here.