The first three games of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2023 football season were littered with penalties, missed assignments and turnovers. Between the home loss to Texas and a struggle win on the road against USF, many people have questioned the making of this Alabama team. Finally, the Crimson Tide responded to the critics and looked like the team we had all hoped to see this off-season with a 24-10 victory over SEC West foe Ole Miss.
The Rebels took a 7-6 lead into the halftime interval, but it was all Alabama in the second half. The offense finally seemed to find it’s gear when Jalen Milroe delivered a 33-yard strike to Jalen Hale in the back of the endzone for the Tide’s first of two touchdowns. Milroe completed over 80% of his passes for 225 yards and showed signs of vast improvement. Jace McClellan also ran for over 100 yards behind the offensive line that looked the best they have all season. The Alabama defense was again phenomenal as they surrendered only 10 points to an Ole Miss offense who has been arguably the best in the country to start the year. Outside of the Texas game, the Alabama defense has only given up two scores on the year.
For the Tide’s stellar performance in Week 4, USA TODAY graded Alabama as one of the Week 4 Winners saying, “This is going to be a pulling-teeth type of season for No. 12 Alabama given the state of the offense, which may have been better in a 24-10 win against No. 16 Mississippi but remains mystifyingly poor behind new coordinator Tommy Rees. It’s clear the Crimson Tide’s best method for success moving forward is to turn back the clock and embrace the sort of defense-and-ball-control game plan that has been phased out of the SEC. The defense stepped up against the Rebels, giving up just 301 yards on 4.6 yards per play, while Jalen Milroe completed 17 of 21 throws with a touchdown and one mindbogglingly bad interception in his first game back in the starting lineup. It wasn’t pretty, but Alabama got the job done in a crucial SEC West matchup.”
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.