After Facing Serious Backlash for Alabama’s Downfall, Jalen Milroe Clears Stance on Individual Accountability

October was not Jalen Milroe’s month; the loss against Vandy, then Tennessee. And suddenly, it looked like everything was resolved. November brought special victory. Remember the game against LSU when Milroe just ran Brian Kelly out of the playoffs? Well, Kalen DeBoer was hoping for a similar Week 13 returns, but against Oklahoma, the offense never took to the field. A historically low performance, and Bama is now staring at an exit from the playoffs. Who’s to blame? The head coach, the offensive coordinator, the QB1? There are plenty of candidates.

On November 26, Milroe clarified the stance on individual accountability and said, “I thought that it’s just a simple thing that we just need to execute as an offense as a group; you know you can’t point out one person.” The captain further shed light on what they were lacking and things they could improve on, which include teamwork, execution, and self-improvement.

“You know it’s all about collectively as a group just being our best us and just executing the simple things and just what’s going to allow us to be the best version of ourselves and be the best offense we can be, so it’s just simple execution that we know we fall back on under and so you know, as we look at the table, just little small thing that we just were not executing, that’s all we need to do,” Milroe said.

Football is a team game, and blaming an individual player is not right. We understand that Milroe has raised our expectations, but he can have a bad day, too, and on those days, he needs help from other players in the offense. But we cannot ignore that now the defeat has dropped their chances to get into the playoffs. If they win against Auburn this week, they have only a 41% chance of making the CFP.

Moving ahead, let’s see why he is receiving the criticism. When was the last time Tide’s offense did not score even a single touchdown? On November 23, when Tide fans were waiting to improve their 8-2 record, they had to leave the stadium disappointed. Mlroe completed 11 out of 26 passes for 164 yards and had three total interceptions. One of them was really bad, and it returned for a 49-yard touchdown by Oklahoma’s Kip Lewis and improved their score to 24-3 when just eight minutes were left in the game. Let’s find out if DeBoer and Milroe still have a chance to fight back.

Can Alabama make it to the playoffs?

Week 13 changed the entire dynamics, and college fans got to witness some real drama after the top seven teams were left disappointed. One of them was Tide. After losing to Oklahoma, the Tide has a last chance to secure a seat in the playoffs. But is that going to be easy? Obviously not! DeBoer and Milroe will have to depend on destiny and hard work to make it happen.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, DeBoer and his team have a 37.7% chance of making it to the College Football Playoff. Sooners stopped them from improving their record, which dropped their CFP rankings. Now they are standing at No. 13. So far, Tide remains a two-score favourite against its in-state rival, Auburn, but this season, the nature of the game is different, which makes their matchup more interesting.

Now, only an impressive victory against the Auburn Tigers can save them. Although they are the favorites over the Tigers at home on Saturday, they have to outperform the rivals on both sides. Along with that, Alabama would need certain other results going in their favour. A Notre Dame loss at USC would help. If Tennessee or South Carolina can lose their games, that would be a blessing. Honestly, the chances are slim, but Tide is a big program for a reason. Can they flip their destiny?

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