Current:Home > ScamsJalen Milroe, Ryan Williams uncork an Alabama football party, humble Georgia, Kirby Smart -Momentum Wealth Path
Jalen Milroe, Ryan Williams uncork an Alabama football party, humble Georgia, Kirby Smart
SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-08 12:49:46
- 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! (641)
Related
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Washington man sentenced for 20 ‘swatting’ calls of false threats in US, Canada
- WNBA rescinds technical foul given to Angel Reese that resulted in her ejection
- A Colorado woman who was handcuffed in a police car hit by a train receives an $8.5M settlement
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Dollar General digital coupons: Get promo codes from USA TODAY's coupons page to save money
- Hubble Space Telescope faces setback, but should keep working for years, NASA says
- Pat Sajak set for final 'Wheel of Fortune' episode after more than four decades: 'An odd road'
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- 2 women suspected in a 2022 double-homicide case in Colorado arrested in Arizona by a SWAT team
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- In Push to Meet Maryland’s Ambitious Climate Commitments, Moore Announces New Executive Actions
- Jason Kelce Doubles Down After Sharing TMI Shower Confession
- Flavor Flav orders entire Red Lobster menu to save 'one of America's greatest dining dynasties'
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Cara Delevingne Shares Rare Insight Into Relationship With Minke in Sweet 2nd Anniversary Post
- Amanda Knox reconvicted of slander in Italy in case linked to her quashed murder conviction
- Split the stock, add the guac: What to know about Chipotle's 50-for-one stock split
Recommendation
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Prehistoric crystals offer clues on when freshwater first emerged on Earth, study shows
Kyrie Irving took long, complicated route back to NBA Finals with Dallas Mavericks
Another victim from suspected serial killer's Indiana farm ID'd as man who went missing in 1993
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Angel Reese is not the villain she's been made out to be
Body recovered from rubble after explosion levels house in Chicago suburbs
Whoopi Goldberg cries during emotional 'Sister Act 2' reunion: Watch