Nick Saban details Jalen Milroe's growth ahead of LSU matchup

Nick Saban talks LSU game, Tommy Rees as OC | Alabama Football

Alabama sophomore Jalen Milroe has had to grow up in a hurry in his first year as one of the starting quarterbacks for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. He’s also been asked to develop behind an offensive line which has struggled mightily this year, allowing 35 total sacks, ranking them 128th out of 133 teams.

In his Wednesday evening press conference, Saban discussed Jalen Milroe’s growth this year.

Nick Saban on the development of his signal-caller

“Well, I think it’s a lot to do with confidence. And I think it has to do with experience,” Saban began.

“You know, experience is nothing but an accumulation of all the mistakes that we’ve made in the past. Right? I mean, that’s all of us. Me, you guys, everybody. So, when you learn from all those things, which Jalen has and he’s done a really good job of that. And you stay positive, then you start to develop confidence because you start making plays and doing things right on a more consistent basis. And I think that makes you feel good about yourself. And it makes you impact other people around you because of the way you carry yourself. And I think that’s started to happen and you know, hopefully we can continue to build on that,” Saban explained on Wednesday evening.

Milroe and the Crimson Tide will face one of their stiffest tests of the season this weekend as they face off against Jayden Daniels and the LSU Tigers, one of the more prolific offensive attacks in all of college football.

Last week against Tennessee, Milroe completed 14 of 21 passes for 220 yards, while tossing in two touchdowns with one interception. While he’s certainly had some rough patches in his first year as a starter, he’s completed 64.7% of his passes for 1,617 yards, while tossing in 13 touchdowns with five interceptions. As a runner, he’s also had 77 carries for 142 yards, while tacking on five touchdowns on the ground.

His best game of the season came against Texas A&M, when he threw for a career-high 321 passing yards, while tossing in three touchdowns and one interception. Outside of a 34-24 loss to Texas, the Crimson Tide have won the rest of their games.

LSU and Alabama will face off against each other on Saturday, November 4th. Kick time is slated for 7:45 PM EST and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Last season, LSU upset Alabama 32-31 in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.