TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jayden Daniels had a trip to New York in his future, the Heisman Trophy in his field of vision.
Not so fast, said Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
Maybe, Daniels will still capture college football’s top award, but he’ll have to do it without a win over Alabama on his résumé. Milroe stiff-armed LSU out of the SEC West race.
No. 8 Alabama’s 42-28 victory over No. 13 LSU on Saturday didn’t clinch the division, but the Crimson Tide exited Bryant-Denny Stadium with a stranglehold on the West.
How appropriate that in the final year for the SEC’s divisional play, Alabama regained its grip on the division it has ruled these past 32 years.
Hand over the crown, Brian Kelly. How brief, his reign of college football’s most rugged division.
How thrilling, the performance of Alabama’s sophomore quarterback.
Milroe hardly looked like the same player who briefly lost his starting job following Alabama’s Week 2 loss to Texas.
When Milroe wasn’t showing poise and precision from the pocket, he was running past LSU defenders with the speed of a track sprinter.
Milroe won’t strike a Heisman pose in December, but he should take a bow for how he played while amassing 374 yards of offense Saturday to Daniels' 382.
The Tigers contributed to Milroe’s excellence. LSU’s defense is battered and fragile. Milroe became the Tigers’ latest nightmare in a coming-of-age performance amid a bitter rivalry that’s been the SEC’s defining game these past 20 years.
This installment served a quarterback duel that rivaled Joe Burrow vs. Tua Tagovailoa from 2019.
Each team’s defense spectated while Daniels and Milroe traded knifing runs and completions in an epic game of one-upmanship.
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Daniels didn’t settle for one Heisman moment. He delivered about a dozen of them before exiting in the fourth quarter with an injury, while Alabama led by two touchdowns.
When Daniels wasn’t knifing through Alabama’s defense, he was completing deep strikes to his reliable sidekick, Malik Nabers.
Daniels can scoot, and he can juke. His sick move on Deontae Lawson sent the Alabama linebacker tumbling helplessly to the ground while Daniels darted past him.
Milroe matched Daniels, highlight for highlight, completion for completion, blazing run for blazing run.
Who's come further these past two months, Alabama's quarterback or its offensive coordinator? Tommy Rees called a great game, and Milroe executed the plan. Four touchdowns, Milroe supplied. One came on a 4-yard quarterback sneak. Yes, a 4-yard sneak. It was that kind of night for a quarterback that’s added polish to toolbox that overflows with athleticism.
Alabama erased another second-half deficit, like it did in wins over Texas A&M and Tennessee. Milroe became the Tide’s cool-hand Jalen. He was sublime on third downs.
Throughout the season’s first month, Alabama looked as vulnerable as it had been at any point since Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa.
Anyone want to face the Tide now that its quarterback grew up? He became the unflappable tamer of Tigers, and he steered Alabama closer to the SEC Championship Game.
Daniels can have New York.
Alabama prefers Atlanta.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
