For the bulk of the time that Nick Saban has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama (since 2007), the Crimson Tide have always had a quarterback plan in place.
From Greg McElroy to A.J. McCarron to transfer Jake Coker, from Blake Sims to Jalen Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa to Mac Jones to Bryce Young, there seems to have always been a plan in place.
That is, until this year, when there seemed to be a real honest-to-goodness quarterback competition this summer between Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner.
From the looks of things last week in a 56-7 season-opening performance against Middle Tennessee, the competition is closed, and Milroe is the winner.
Milroe met with the media briefly Monday after Saban’s weekly press conference, just after setting a school record. Somehow, with all of that football history, Alabama had never had a quarterback run for three touchdowns and throw for at least two in a single game.
ESPN’s Alex Scarborough has a piece on Thursday (Alabama QB Jalen Milroe to get true test against Texas – ESPN) that sheds light not only on Milroe’s journey to Alabama and to the starting quarterback position, but Milroe’s next, and biggest, challenge: Saturday at home against Texas (6 p.m. Saturday).