Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: 5 Things to Know Before SEC Title Game vs. Georgia

Jalen Milroe's first season as Alabama's starting quarterback had a rocky start.

Head coach Nick Saban benched the redshirt sophomore for the Crimson Tide's third game of the season against South Florida. The week before, Milroe's lackluster performance against Texas—which included two interceptions—factored into a 10-point home loss. But since Saban eventually went back to Milroe for the start of SEC play, Alabama has not lost a game, and now heads into the SEC Championship Game with conference and national title hopes.

No. 1 Georgia (12-0) and No. 8 Alabama (11-1) face off at 4 p.m. ET Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia, for the conference crown. Milroe and the Crimson Tide need a win to earn a spot in this season's College Football Playoff.

Here are five things to know about Alabama's QB before kickoff.

Picked Alabama Rather Than Staying in Texas

Milroe was a four-star recruit, per 247Sports, and one of the top dual-threat quarterback prospects in the country coming out of Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas.

But one of the Lone Star State's top prep players opted to leave Texas for his college career. Milroe committed to Alabama, joining its 2021 recruiting class rather than accepting offers from Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, Oregon, Florida State and a variety of other interested schools.

Backed Up Bryce Young

Most of Milroe's first two seasons in Tuscaloosa were spent on the sideline. But that comes with the territory of sharing a QB room with a Heisman Trophy winner.

Bryce Young, this year's No. 1 overall draft pick and the current starting quarterback of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, was Alabama's starter under center in 2021 and 2022. Milroe saw minimal action in his first collegiate season, then spent his redshirt freshman year backing up Young. After the sophomore accounted for five touchdowns against Middle Tennessee State in the season-opener, Young had a message for his former backup.

"J-Mil balled out," Young told reporters in September. "I've been able to watch him grow and just continue to get better in all aspects, from being on the field to off the field. His understanding of the game and of the offense, his command and then everything on the field, he continues to grow.

"That's my guy, that's my brother, so I'm super excited for him. It was really great to see the success he had. He's a great player, and it shows on the field. But he's also a great person, great dude. Again, I've been able to see him progress behind the scenes for years now, and there's nothing surprising about what he did, and I'm super excited for him."

Milroe Stats After Beating Auburn

Alabama needed practically a miracle to pull itself out of a deep hole in the final minute of this year's "Iron Bowl." The Crimson Tide got one. And they dug Auburn's grave in the process.

Milroe and the Alabama offense faced a 4th-and-31 with less than a minute remaining in regulation on the road last weekend. So Alabama pulled out the "Gravedigger" play, as they apparently call it. Milroe stood in the pocket for what felt like a full quarter before launching a deep shot to the back of the end zone. Isaiah Bond caught the pass for the game-winning touchdown that secured Alabama's win and kept the team's College Football Playoff hopes alive.

"I'll never forget this game, ever in my life," Milroe said postgame.

Neither will any of the fans in attendance. Alabama wrapped up its regular season 11-1 with the win. And the "Gravedigger" throw is the most notable play in a season full of highlight-worthy snaps for Milroe. The 20-year old has thrown for 2,526 yards, ran for 439, and scored 33 total touchdowns this season heading into the matchup with Georgia.

Earned Lamar Jackson Comparison From Kirby Smart

Alabama's starting quarterback certainly has the respect of his opponent going into Saturday's SEC Championship Game against Georgia.

Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart raved during a press conference earlier this week about Milroe's playmaking ability and how much he has grown over the course of the season. One reporter threw out Tim Tebow as a possible comparison for Milroe's dual-threat ability. But Smart had a different name in mind.

The former Alabama defensive coordinator called the Crimson Tide's 6-foot-2, 220-pound QB a "bigger, physical" version of Lamar Jackson, the MVP-winning Baltimore Ravens quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner at Louisville.

"This guy, I mean it's like when I used to ask my sons who they were playing with on the 'Madden' game and they would say, 'I'm playing with the Ravens,'" Smart said earlier this week. "And I would say, 'Why are you playing with the Ravens?' And they would say, 'I got Lamar Jackson and nobody can tackle him.' Well, this guy's a bigger, physical version of that. He's playing at a different speed than everybody else when you watch it."

Can Continue Alabama's SEC Title Game Dominance

Alabama is 3-0 all-time in SEC Championship Game meetings with Georgia.

The first meeting came in 2012, when Georgia receiver Chris Conley caught a deflected Aaron Murray pass but failed to reach the end zone on the final play of a 32-28 Alabama win. The Crimson Tide won the BCS National Championship that season.

The two most recent meetings have occurred since Smart took over as head coach. In 2018, Alabama overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to beat Georgia, 35-28. That season's Crimson Tide team eventually fell to Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. And two seasons ago, a one-loss Alabama team took down an undefeated Georgia squad 41-24 for the conference title. Both SEC teams went on to the College Football Playoff. Georgia got its revenge with a 33-18 win in the national championship.

It was the second time Smart and Saban had faced off with the national title on the line. Alabama won the first of those matchups at the end of the 2017 season. And if Milroe can lead the Crimson Tide to victory in the latest installment in this rivalry on Saturday afternoon, another national championship trophy may also eventually be headed to Tuscaloosa sometime soon.

"Our team is trying to focus on what they need to do to go play the kind of game that we'll need to play to beat a very, very good team—probably the best team we played all year," Saban said earlier this week. "I think the challenge for us, as a player, you got to be ready to play and assume that the guy you're playing against is the best player you played all year.

"I think if you take that approach, channel your energy and enthusiasm into execution on the field, that will give you your best chance to be successful."