Jalen Milroe saw his fair share of pressure in Alabama football's win against South Carolina Saturday.
In the Crimson Tide's 27-25 victory against the Gamecocks , Milroe was sacked four times by defensive end Kyle Kennard twice, linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. and defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway . Milroe also had a 1-yard tackle for loss by Jalon Kilgore, along with two interceptions and Kennard sack-turned-safety on an intentional grounding call.
Milroe had not seen a pass rush like South Carolina 's in 2024. And as he prepares to face Tennessee's pass rush that includes star defensive end James Pearce Jr., Milroe said the best answer against it is to get the ball out quickly and effectively.
"When you're playing against tough defenses, you know, of course you don't want to get hit," Milroe said. "But that's part of the game. It's something where you have to lock into your read, have great eye discipline, understand the concept because up front, they're doing a really good job of holding their block. But the more the quarterback holds the ball, that's when the pocket closes. So it's all about playing on time, keying the reads and stuff like that. As much as I can do that, as much as possible, each and every rep that I have, that helps the offensive line out."
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Before South Carolina's four-sack game, Milroe only had multiple sacks in Alabama 's win against South Florida and the Crimson Tide 's loss to Vanderbilt. Milroe was not sacked in Alabama's win against Georgia.
In moments of pressure in pass protection, and moments of pressure after turnovers, Alabama offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan said Milroe "responded great."
"I think there's always going to be plays where you wish you could handle it differently, I think that's the nature of the position," Sheridan said. "And so there were some learning opportunities that occurred in the game this past week and that occur every game, where choices you make, decisions make, that work out in your favor, and maybe it wasn't the right decision, so you still learn from there. And then, obviously, when the result isn't what you want, relative to the play, you learn, you grow, you improve."
Tennessee has 12 sacks in six games in 2024. But the Volunteers have four defensive players with at least four tackles-for-loss: Pearce, linebacker Arion Carter, defensive lineman Joshua Josephs and defensive lineman Tyre West.
Milroe's mindset in the face of pressure from opposing defenses isn't changing from South Carolina to Tennessee.
"Just playing on time, always trusting my eyes and just putting it in our playmakers' hands as much as possible," Milroe said.
Alabama takes on Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Alabama football QB Jalen Milroe navigates strong pass rushes
