TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The report card doesn’t look as good as it did last week. After building a bit of optimism during a season-opening win over Middle Tennessee State, No. 3 Alabama failed its first big test Saturday night, suffering a 34-24 loss to No. 11 Texas.
The defeat is the earliest the Crimson Tide has lost in a season since Nick Saban took over the program in 2007. That doesn’t bode well for Alabama as it looks to end its two-year national title drought. However, all isn’t lost for the team in Tuscaloosa.
Starting quarterback Jalen Milroe made sure to remind fans and teammates about that following Saturday’s disappointing result.
“The season’s not over,” Milroe said adamantly. “We’re gonna look in the mirror, we’re gonna try to improve. We’re gonna keep fighting, and no matter who it is, we’re gonna give our best foot forward as a team. Offense, defense, special teams, it don’t matter. We’re gonna keep on coming.”
Milroe is the first to point blame his way following the defeat. The redshirt sophomore completed 14 of 27 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns on the night but threw two costly interceptions which led to 10 Texas points.
"I've got to do better," Milroe said. "I've got to improve. I've got to protect the ball. I've got to continue to lead. I'm just learning. Learn from it, grow from it, just understand that there's always more work to do."
That being said, the quarterback isn’t about to go into hiding or throw himself a pity party. He made sure to point that out to his teammates on Saturday night as well.
“There’s two things we can do,” Milroe said when asked about his message to the team. “We can linger on this loss, or we can try to improve and get better as a football team. And I bet on my guys any day. So we’re gonna get better from this, we’re gonna learn from it, and we’re gonna grow.”
That trust goes both ways.
Following Saturday’s loss, Alabama players backed their starting quarterback commending him on his resilience in defeat. Despite struggling for much of the game, Milroe rallied the offense for two touchdown drives late, making a comeback bid before eventually coming up short.
“He matured, and he didn’t let it get to him” left tackle J.C. Latham said. “He didn’t let his head down. He was one of the guys on the sideline letting everybody know we’re going to fight all the way to the end.”
Added defensive back Malachi Moore: “We’ve got all the confidence in Jalen, moving forward. You know, it’s the game of football, and sometimes things don’t go your way. We back him 100%.”
Milroe and Alabama have little room for error if they want to salvage their season. The Crimson Tide’s first chance to move on from Saturday’s mistakes will come next week as it travels to South Florida for its first road trip of the season.
“The goal this year is to be a better version of ourselves each and every day.” Milroe said. “No matter which day it is, just try to get 1% better and learn and grow.”
