In Saturday’s 24-20 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies, it was clear that the Alabama Crimson Tide missed Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. Young’s replacement Jalen Milroe did a decent job at quarterback, but he wasn’t Young.
Although Milroe threw three touchdowns, he also turned the ball over three times. He also couldn’t get the Tide’s offense moving in the second half and only passed for 111 yards.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban said after the game that Young wanted to come in and play in this one. But Saban hinted that Young’s return may come this weekend at Tennessee.
Although he didn’t come right out and say it, Saban did say to CBS after the game that “Maybe we’ll get the quarterback healthy.”
That statement is maybe a relief to Tide fans who saw their QB go down last week against Arkansas. Many feared at first that was a separated shoulder.
It turns out Young (seen above after Alabama’s game against Vanderbilt on Sept. 24) is basically just suffering with a sore shoulder, which he has dealt with before in the past and usually gets over.
Young probably could have played Saturday, but Saban thought better of it and went with Milroe. And Saban shelving the Heisman winner until next week against Tennessee (if he is healthy) may be, in the end, the thing that saves the Tide’s season.
[Ross Dellenger on Twitter; photo from Gary Cosby Jr./USA Today Sports]
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.