OXFORD — No. 13 Alabama will go with Jalen Milroe at quarterback Saturday when the Crimson Tide entertains No. 15 Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa.
Milroe started Alabama’s first two games but did not play during the Crimson Tide’s 17-3 win at South Florida over the weekend. Despite not taking a snap against the Bulls, the redshirt sophomore earned praise from Alabama coach Nick Saban for not hanging his head and showing support for his teammates on the sidelines following big plays. That, along with his play over the first two weeks of the season, was enough to convince Saban he was the right man for the job.
“Jalen really showed the leadership that I was looking for during the game in terms of supporting his teammates and doing the things that he needed to do,” Saban said. “He’s had the opportunity to play. So have the other guys. Jalen played the best of all those guys. So I think he’s earned the opportunity to be the quarterback.”
During his last appearance against Texas, Milroe completed 14 of 27 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Through two games this season, he has completed 60 percent of his passes for 449 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. He’s also run for 92 yards and a pair of scores on the ground.
“That’s another person you have to account for, another person who could be blocking downfield and when you can get a quarterback who can read defenses and throw the ball and also run the ball, it’s just a different aspect,” Ole Miss defensive end Isaac Ukwu said Monday. “You have to be more sound in the pass rush lanes. You can’t go balls to the wall and lose your responsibility in that sense. That’s the type of challenges he puts forth.”
Saturday special to Golding?: Ukwu said Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who spent the previous five seasons at Alabama, hasn’t made Saturday’s game personal during the early phases of preparations.
“The topic hasn’t really come up yet,” Ukwu said. “We just started our introductory type meetings and putting in our first-down stuff, but none of that stuff has come up. He’s just been treating it like it’s another week. Obviously, we know the opponent that we have and we know we have to go to Tuscaloosa and play, but it hasn’t been anything extra personal or anything over the top.”
Bentley taking on extended role: Ole Miss running back Ulysses Bentley IV knew after the Rebels’ win over Tulane earlier this month his role in the offense was about to increase. Quinshon Judkins had suffered an injury late in that contest in New Orleans and was limited in practice last week as Ole Miss prepared for Georgia Tech.
Bentley had six carries for 61 yards and a touchdown against the Yellow Jackets.
“It was fun to get back out there and do what I normally do,” Bentley said. “I just had a great time.”
Bentley said he knows Alabama will present real challenges Saturday, knowing the Tide will play “tough and hard.” He also said he knows his role on the Rebels’ roster.
“Anytime anybody is down, I just have to step up and be ready to go,” Bentley said.
Saban denies Kiffin’s assertion: (From TideIllustrated.com) During his Monday press conference, Alabama coach Nick Saban dispelled speculation from Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin that Alabama's defense was being called by defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson. Previously, Robinson served as South Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 2016 until 2020. He joined Alabama's staff in 2022.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the same reports of if Kevin Steele is the defensive coordinator,” Saban said. “He has all the defensive coordinator responsibilities. The only thing we tried to improve from an administrative standpoint was game day administration of getting signals in quicker. That was the only thing we worked on as a staff, and the whole staff made a contribution to it.”
During a Sunday Zoom call with local media, Kiffin questioned whether or not Steele was calling Alabama's defense during its 17-3 win over South Florida, stating that the Tide's setup looked more like similar to what Robinson had run in the past.
“We’ve been against Kevin a number of times,” Kiffin said. “Worked with him at Alabama and against him at Auburn and LSU. There seems that there’s been a change there.
“I don’t know what happened after the Texas game, but our guys watching the TV copy and schematically in this last game, certainly seems like T-Rob’s now calling the defense. We played him before at South Carolina, so we’re preparing accordingly for him calling the defense. He’s done a good job too, and they’ve got really good players.”
Monday, Kiffin was asked what he saw on tape to suggest Robinson was calling Alabama's defense instead of Steele.
"I was asked the question what it was like going against Steele's defense," Kiffin said. "I wasn't really trying to start this big thing. We saw things on TV copy just where it was different, first off with the playbook, the calls and stuff. We looked into that further. It ain't no secret: People in these buildings know each other. We got some information that way too.
Washington earns SEC honors: Ole Miss football senior safety Trey Washington has been named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday morning.
Washington led the Ole Miss defense in the Rebels' 48-23 victory over Georgia Tech last Saturday, notching a career-high 10 tackles (seven solo) in addition to his second career forced fumble and his first two tackles for loss on the season. Washington currently leads the Ole Miss defense with 20 tackles on the season, and his 6.7 tackles per game ranks 13th in the conference.
LSU game time set: Ole Miss football's home game against LSU on Sept. 30 will kickoff at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN, the league office announced Monday.
Next Saturday will mark the 112th all-time meeting between Ole Miss and LSU. The Tigers hold a 65-41-4 series lead, with the original record being 65-42-4 before vacated wins
