BATON ROUGE, La. — Welcome back, Jalen Milroe .
It's been a few weeks since the Alabama football quarterback has looked his best, and frankly, a few weeks since he's appeared to have his usual explosiveness as a runner. The Crimson Tide's narrow home win over South Carolina on Oct. 12 was a rough one for Milroe, who took hits around the knees and ankles early and often, and it showed in subsequent games.
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Alabama 's idle date last week, however, appeared to do wonders for the fourth-year junior, who emerged looking September-fresh with ideal timing for the Crimson Tide : a 42-13, rain-soaked road win at LSU . And with the victory, Alabama took a much firmer grip on a potential College Football Playoff berth.
More than 102,000 LSU fans packed Tiger Stadium riding what had been coach Brian Kelly's 13-0 home record in night games, creating a daunting task for Alabama in what was a CFP elimination atmosphere. But in the most impressive road win of his career, Milroe rediscovered his fifth gear as a runner. He scored four rushing touchdowns from distances of 39, 10, 19 and 72 yards and finished with a staggering 185 rushing yards on just 12 carries.
His newfound burst was evident right away when he broke a run up the middle on the Crimson Tide 's opening drive, veered left and sprinted 39 yards untouched into the end zone for a 7-0 lead. It was the same kind of burst with which he ran in Alabama's home win over Georgia, and it returned when his team needed it most for a fast start in a hostile stadium.
Near the end of the first half, after Jihaad Campbell 's sack-fumble of LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier resulted in the game's first turnover, Milroe ripped the Tigers on the next play for a 22-yard run and was back in the end zone two plays later on a 10-yard keeper.
By halftime, he had 98 rushing yards — and LSU's number.
Time and again, he carved up the Tigers' defense on both designed runs and improvised scrambles, much of it straight up the middle of the field. He all but clinched the win with his third rushing score, a 19-yard touchdown run on a third-and-4 that gave Alabama its seventh third-down conversion in nine tries to that point. The capper was the most impressive of all: a 72-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter that left LSU defensive backs in his wake and triggered an emptying of Tiger Stadium.
Milroe had a decent passing night as well. Not a great one, but the weather conditions weren't ideal for either passer. On a night when a steady first-half rain did no favors for Nussmeier's ability to throw for his season average of more than 300 yards, the most obvious difference between the two quarterbacks — Milroe's ability to tuck the ball and gash defenses on the ground — was the No. 1 factor in the outcome.
Throw in Milroe's clean sheet in the turnover department — no interceptions, no fumbles — and LSU had little chance to get the stops it needed.
And now, his team has a far better chance to reach the CFP.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football's Jalen Milroe rediscovers 5th gear to beat LSU
