Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe entered Saturday as a bit of an unknown quantity to the larger college football world.
However, thanks to a bad snap for the No. 4 Crimson Tide against Middle Tennessee Saturday evening, he's a bit closer to name recognition.
With 10:49 left in the first quarter, Milroe watched an errant snap dribble past him. He picked the ball up, evaded a tackler in the pocket, scrambled to his right and eventually outran three Blue Raiders for Alabama’s first touchdown of the season.
It marked Milroe's second career rushing touchdown, joining a three-yard scamper against Arkansas in 2022.
Jalen Milroe made a TD out of this snap 😯
— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) September 3, 2023
(via @AlabamaFTBL) pic.twitter.com/57zc4is4sV
News broke via ESPN that Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban intended to name Milroe his starter Friday morning. Milroe entered Saturday having seen action in 12 career games, completing 34-of-60 passes for 338 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.
Despite Milroe’s direction of Alabama in the opener, Saban stressed on his radio show Thursday that whomever he would choose as the Week 1 starter might not necessarily be locked in as the QB1 going forward.
“Whoever starts the game, it’s not their job in perpetuity because they have to perform well," Saban said. "Because they don’t have a lot of experience, I think we’re all interested in seeing how they all perform.”