Alabama football: 3 reasons the Tide will beat Ole Miss in Week 4
By TJ Heyder
When was the last time you felt this doubtful about an Alabama football game? A Nick Saban-led team with possibly two losses in September isn’t a world the rest of college football is familiar with. In just three weeks into the season, the Tide already have a blemish on their record, with a second one looming this weekend when No. 15 Ole Miss comes to Bryant-Denny.
The Rebels, however, have been playing excellent football under Lane Kiffin out of the gate. Jaxson Dart has the Ole Miss offense humming, averaging 51.7 points per game through three contests, the fourth-highest in all of FBS. This has the makings of a shootout in Tuscaloosa.
Will Kiffin become the second former Saban assistant this month to take down his mentor?
The answer is no. Let’s dive into why.
3. Jalen Milroe is back, for good
Alabama has been blessed with excellent quarterback play since recruiting Jalen Hurts back in 2016. The assembly line of first-round quarterbacks with Hurts, Tagovailoa, Jones, and Young was maybe the best run at the position we’ve ever seen. But it’s evident that came to a halt.
Jalen Milroe may not possess the elite traits of those aforementioned quarterbacks, but he’s clearly the best on the Bama roster. Saban told the media this week that Milroe would be the starter moving forward, who I believe was his preference all along.
“He’s got nothing to prove here. He’s our guy” said Saban.
Everyone wrote Jalen Milroe off after the Texas game, but he’s not playing the Texas defense this week. Ole Miss is allowing 350 yards of total offense on average this year. Milroe has a mouthwatering opportunity to hush the critics against a unit conceding over 225 passing yards per game, and he’s going to rise to the occasion.
The narrative around Jalen Milroe is going to be awfully different come Saturday night.