The Alabama Crimson Tide's season has been far from smooth. They entered a rough patch early on, as they lost in Week 2 to the Texas Longhorns and barely beat the South Florida Bulls in Week 3. This once again created questions about whether Alabama's dominance in the SEC was reaching its end.
But the team keeps on winning, and more decisively at that, with each passing week. That's thanks to the play of quarterback Jalen Milroe.
On Saturday, Alabama went on the road to face the Kentucky Wildcats and walked out of the stadium with a 49-21 win. Milroe played a gigantic role in the result, as he accounted for six touchdowns (three passing, three rushing).
Jalen Milroe gets Heisman buzz despite slow start to season
During this recent stretch of games, and with Alabama's positioning in the Top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings, Milroe had been gaining traction for some Heisman Trophy love. The thing is, there are a lot of strong contenders for the award this year, and it's hard to look past Milroe's rough start to the season.
In Alabama's Week 2 loss to Texas, Milroe threw for 255 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions while completing 14-of-27 pass attempts. He was benched for their next game against South Florida in favor of Tyler Buchner, who played for offensive coordinator Tommy Rees during their time at Notre Dame. But Buchner struggled and was benched for Ty Simpson later in the game. The following week, Milroe was renamed the starter.
Milroe has played better, and he really had eyeballs placed upon him last week when the team took on the No. 14 LSU Tigers. In that game, Milroe stood toe-to-toe and kept up with LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Milroe completed 15-of-23 pass attempts for 219 yards but did most of his damage on the run, picking up 155 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries.
Entering Saturday's game against Kentucky, Milroe threw for 1,836 yards, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions on a 64.8 completion percentage while running for 297 yards and nine touchdowns on 97 carries.
Against Kentucky, Milroe completed 15-of-22 throws for 234 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one interception. On the ground, Milroe picked up 36 rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight carries.
While Milroe has been on a roll as of late, he would need a lot to happen for him to receive serious consideration to become a Heisman finalist and to make it high on FanSided's Heisman Trophy Power Rankings.