Jalen Milroe’s first coveted jersey growing up in Texas was Vince Young’s No. 10. Nowadays, he is apt to end his media interviews with an enthusiastic “Roll Tide.”
Quinn Ewers lifted Longhorns fans’ hopes that they had found another star passer like Young or Colt McCoy with his dazzling start in last year’s Alabama game.
Milroe, the third-ranked Crimson Tide’s dynamic new starting quarterback, and Ewers of No. 11 Texas will lead their teams into Saturday night’s showdown at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Not Young, Bryce or Vince.
“Vince Young is someone I did watch, as far as highlights,” said Milroe, who is from Katy, Texas, outside Houston. “My family loved Vince Young. Growing up, I was always a Vince Young fan. He was my first jersey that I bought.”
Like that Young or Milroe’s predecessor, No. 1 NFL draft pick Bryce Young, quarterbacks at these programs will ultimately be judged by how they perform in games like this one.
Milroe especially hasn’t been tested on this stage before, though he did fill in for an injured Bryce Young in the Texas A&M game last season with mixed results.
Ewers, an Ohio State transfer, was thriving against the Tide last season before going down with a shoulder injury that sidelined him for three games. He racked up 134 passing yards on the first two drives against a normally stingy Tide defense before getting slammed into the ground by Alabama linebacker Dallas Turner, who was called for a personal foul.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws against Rice during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
Ewers fended off offseason challenges from top recruit Arch Manning and Maalik Murphy to hold onto the starting job. He twice batted away questions about the injury and whether he owed Alabama any “payback.”
“I don’t play the ‘what if?’ games,” he said. “I’m going into this game like any other.”
Milroe is trying to do the same. He…
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