Alabama football quarterback Jalen Milroe had a performance to remember against Georgia.
Milroe had a career-best 491 total yards, including a career-high 394 passing yards, and four touchdowns, helping the Crimson Tide to a 41-34 win against Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It's a performance that earned Milroe his second-straight SEC Offensive Player of the Week award, the fifth overall of his career.
Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams also earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan sees the improvement in Milroe's performance against Georgia. But it's not something Sheridan is continuing to highlight.
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"What has happened in the past has no impact on the game this Saturday," Sheridan said. "You know, there's no carry over (in) yards, points, completions. Each week, in this conference and at the highest level of competition in college, which is what we're in, it starts over."
But in Alabama's win against Georgia, Sheridan was able to open up his bag of tricks in the offense, offering the Bulldogs a diverse play call he can make only because he has Milroe as his quarterback.
It's finding the right balance, Sheridan said, the "sweet spot" of plays Alabama can execute at a high level, with variety and things opposing defenses may not expect.
"It's like a basketball player that can only drive to the rim one way," Sheridan said. "You can tilt them that way and make them use his other hand. And if he can't, he can't get to the rim.
"In football, you got to be able to dribble with both hands and shoot from outside the 3-point line and drive to the rim. You have to have different ways to attack different schemes, different formations, different concepts, different players. And you are constantly building that as the season goes on."
And it starts with the quarterback, the key cog in Alabama's offensive scheme that Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he's "always working on," developing trust with the offensive line and the skill players.
"Just all of it coming together," DeBoer said. "I think you just see it each and every week, those steps in all those areas happening, and the progress he's making. And it doesn't just happen, You have to intentionally work at it."
Milroe and Alabama will travel to Nashville, Tennessee Saturday for their first SEC road game of the 2024 season against Vanderbilt. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network.
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: Nick Sheridan turns to basketball to assess Jalen Milroe, Alabama offense
