Jalen Milroe's four touchdown day overshadowed a strong night for Jam Miller

The footsteps of Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe have to haunt LSU head coach Brian Kelly’s dreams. In two starts against the Tigers, Milroe has helped the Crimson Tide outscore the Tigers 84-41. In the passing game, Milroe is 27-41 with 327 yards through the air and has 32 carries for 352 yards and eight touchdowns. 

This past Saturday in particular, Milroe ran roughshod over the Tigers picking up 185 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries. But Milroe hasn’t done it alone and his big performance may have overshadowed a day where junior running back Jam Miller carried the Tide through the trenches and had his best-receiving game of the season.

Nothing about Miller’s day in the running game pops off the stat sheet. In fact, by the raw numbers, it was his second-worst game of the season. Miller carried the ball 13 times for 38 yards, didn’t have a touchdown, and only averaged 2.8 yards per carry. The only game where he struggled more this year was against Georgia, where he posted five carries for eight yards. 

But inside of a statistically insignificant game, Miller handled the chess game of the trenches. Miller’s battering ram style helped free up the big runs of Jalen Milroe. 

Milroe had most of his success running off the ends, with four carries around the left end for 56 yards and two touchdowns and along the right end five times for 80 yards and a touchdown. Miller contrasted that by largely running between the tackles drawing the eyes of the LSU backfield and helping free up the perimeter runs.

Four of Miller’s13 runs came strictly through the A-gap (the space between the center and the guards) in that Miller posted 24 of his 38 yards. Modest production until you factor in 20 of those 24 yards came after contact. When running through the middle Miller’s ability to extend plays through contact kept the LSU defense honest. 

In the passing game, Miller sported five of 12 Alabama receptions and 50 of 109 yards. He converted twice on third down and had a pair of 5+ yard receptions on first down. For Alabama, who has struggled with presnap mistakes and getting behind the sticks, the first down catches proved huge with both coming on the opening drive and helping to set up the opening touchdown drive for Alabama. 

When your quarterback shines in the running game, it is hard for running backs to get the carries they need to have a big game. When you’re a back like Miller, who is part of a stable of highly touted running backs, it gets even tougher. But for a Crimson Tide team that needs the legs of Milroe to reach the College Football playoffs there will almost certainly be more thankless low-yardage games in the trenches for Jam Miller.