TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Jalen Milroe put it, “There’s a whole lot of LANKing that was going on out there,” Saturday night inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The Alabama quarterback is referring to the acronym for the team’s motto: let all naysayers know. He certainly did that while leading No. 8 Alabama to a 42-28 victory over No. 14 LSU.

Milroe finished the game with a career-best 374 yards of total offense. He netted 155 of those on the ground while running in four touchdowns — the most in a game by an Alabama quarterback in school history. He wasn’t too shabby through the air either, completing 15 of 23 passes for 219 yards.

“I take every opportunity as a learning moment, and no matter what game it is, I try to grow as much as possible,” Milroe said after the win. “I’m not a finished product. I’m still working to improve to this day.”

Milroe has certainly grown since throwing two costly turnovers during Alabama’s Week 2 loss to Texas. He’s also proved a few naysayers wrong in the process.

“He’s always had that confidence, it’s just getting him more comfortable,” Alabama center Seth McLaughlin said. “He went out there today, and I’m just so proud of him. He played his butt off, and I think he LANKed a lot of people. He let a lot of people know.”

It wasn’t just naysayers either.

Milroe let a few LSU defenders know on some tough runs Saturday. Perhaps the hardest came in the second quarter when he lowered his shoulder to truck LSU safety Javien Toviano.

“We knew it was gonna be a physical game, and our intensity was there,” Milroe said. “My biggest thing, I just want to set the tone throughout the game. When there’s plays like that, you try to make the most of it.”

Along with picking up a few extra yards, Milroe's grit energized Alabama’s offense and earned him some added respect from his teammates.

“It’s incredible,” McLaughlin said. “If you see a quarterback willing to put his body on the line like that for your team, it just means the world to us. I’d prefer him juke somebody out, but it’s a lot of fun watching."

Milroe’s running helped create opportunities for the rest of Alabama’s playmakers to shine. After trucking Toviano, the nimble quarterback eluded pressure before finding an open Jase McClellan for a 42-yard gain the following play. Milroe’s dual-threat abilities also made life easier on Alabama’s backs as it spread LSU’s defense out while opening up running lanes.

“Being able to space those guys out, RPOs, play action, a lot of things — the guy’s special,” said running back Roydell Williams, who ran for 56 yards and a touchdown on six carries. “We’ve got a lot of special guys outside. The five up front do an amazing job, and we just want to be a complete unit. That’s what we’re working toward.”

With Milroe leading the way, Alabama piled up 507 yards of total offense and converted 11 of 14 third-down opportunities against LSU. Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban called it as close of a complete game as his team has put together all season.

While Milroe maintains that he’s still a “work in progress,” Saturday was by far his most complete performance as well. As for those naysayers, there might not be many left following.