Alabama football notebook: Analyzing the 2024 schedule, Jalen Milroe’s NFL comparison
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama ’s 2023 season is at its peak with the SEC Championship Game days away, but the 2024 schedule received much more clarity on Monday night. According to a report by ESPN , Alabama’s games against Georgia (Sept. 28), at Tennessee (Oct. 19), at LSU (Nov. 9) and at Oklahoma (Nov. 23) have set dates. Games against Tennessee , the third Saturday in October, LSU in early November and Auburn in the final week of the regular season are familiar dates.
As it stands right now, here’s how Alabama’s 2024 schedule looks:
Aug. 31 — Western Kentucky
Sept. 7 — South Florida
Sept. 14 — at Wisconsin
Sept. 21 — OPEN
Sept. 28 — Georgia
Oct. 5 — OPEN
Oct. 12 — OPEN
Oct. 19 — at Tennessee
Oct. 26 — OPEN
Nov. 2 — OPEN
Nov. 9 — at LSU
Nov. 16 — Mercer
Nov. 23 — at Oklahoma
Nov. 30 — Auburn
The remaining games: Missouri , South Carolina, at Vanderbilt.
What sticks out initially are some marquee matchups. Alabama will face Wisconsin in mid-September against a Badgers team that should be improved entering the second season under Luke Fickell. Then the Tide open SEC play with Georgia in what’s an early Game of the Year candidate. November is jam-packed with games against LSU and Oklahoma (in the infamous Week 11 buy game slot) before finishing at home with the Iron Bowl.
It’s also of note that it appears Alabama will have two bye weeks next season. It’s unknown when those are, but one is usually reserved for the week before LSU. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the other bye week fall in the week before or after the Georgia game. The Crimson Tide played one of the toughest regular-season schedules in the country this season, and that will continue next season.
The biggest matchup (Georgia) is at home, but Alabama will travel to Oklahoma, LSU, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Factor in a matchup with Missouri, coming off a potential 11-win season this year, and the always-competitive Iron Bowl, and it’s one of Nick Saban’s toughest schedules. Alabama is slated to play two Power 5 non-conference games almost annually beginning in 2025, which creates a dynamic that’s enticing for fans seeking exciting matchups weekly yet makes it increasingly difficult for Alabama to keep its losses low. But that’s no problem for Saban, who has been a notable advocate for increasing Power 5 games across the sport. And it should be a comforting feeling that strength of schedule should be rewarded more favorably in the 12-team College Football Playoff era.
Jalen Milroe , Brock Bowers receive NFL -level respect from opposing teams.
The parallels between the 2021 SEC Championship Game build-up and this year’s game have been a central theme in the early days of the week. Milroe was on the roster in 2021 behind Bryce Young and Paul Tyson and had a chance to observe how Young handled an emotional Iron Bowl win before playing a Heisman Trophy-defining game against Georgia the following week.
“The biggest thing about Bryce is he stayed the same person,” Milroe said. “That’s something that I saw with Bryce. He stayed the same person no matter who we played, no matter who the opponent was. He knew that preparation would allow him to be successful for any weekend. That’s something I took away from Bryce.”
As both teams began preparation for the monster matchup, Georgia coach Kirby Smart offered a lofty comparison when talking about Milroe on Monday. Smart was asked about possible similarities between Milroe and Tim Tebow, whom Smart faced as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. Smart opted for another comparison: Baltimore Ravens quarterback and NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
“No offense to Tim Tebow, but this guy is different,” Smart said. “Very different running styles in terms of what they did and how they did it. It’s like when I ask my sons who they play with on Madden, and they’d say the Ravens. I ask why the Ravens? And they’d say because they have Lamar Jackson, and no one can tackle him.
“Well, this guy is a bigger, physical version of that. He’s playing at a different speed than everyone else when you watch him. The guy throws the ball really well (too).”
Milroe’s ability to create plays with his legs — on designed runs, scrambles or extending plays to pass the ball — likely will be Georgia’s biggest hurdle on Saturday. Dual-threat quarterbacks have been a considerable weakness for otherwise strong Bulldogs defenses. According to TruMedia, opponents have averaged 6.9 yards per rush on scrambles against Georgia since 2021, which ranks 70th nationally.
Alabama has an equally difficult challenge in covering Bowers, the nation’s best tight end who often masquerades as a wide receiver. Bowers is still nursing an ankle injury and didn’t play against Georgia Tech , but Alabama’s preparing as if he will play at full tilt.
“He’s definitely challenging,” Malachi Moore said. “When he’s at tight end, he’s a tight end. When he’s split out as a receiver, he’s a receiver. So we have to know what’s coming when he lines up in certain positions. It’s gonna be a tough week of preparing for him. But we’re gonna go out there, do our best to execute the calls that are made. They just use him overall, kind of like how the Chiefs use (NFL All-Pro tight end) Travis Kelce. I think that’s the best comparison to say, but yeah, that’s what impresses me the most about that.”
Alabama’s offensive line is improving, but Saturday will be the biggest test yet.
An interesting video surfaced on Monday of Alabama offensive linemen practicing without helmets in certain drills. On Tuesday, guard Tyler Booker explained why.
“So (offensive line coach Eric Wolford) has us not wear helmets during some drills so we don’t lean,” Booker said. “It’s like if you don’t have the helmet on firing at full speed, you’re not gonna throw your head in there as if you did, so it’s just conditioning us to keep extending and make sure that we’re not leaning because once you lean, that’s really it, blown by.”
Alabama's offensive line practicing without helmets todayMore footage from Monday pic.twitter.com/MAgHZUumNs
— Kyle Henderson November 28, 2023
The offensive line’s growth has been noticeable this season, especially in November. Alabama has given up 39 sacks this season, but 35 of those were in September and October. This month, Alabama allowed two sacks against LSU, none against Kentucky and one each against Chattanooga and Auburn. Carrying that momentum over to Saturday is one of the biggest keys to victory.
“Our technique has gotten better. Our communication has gotten better. The continuity of playing together has gotten better,” Saban said. “I think the results that we’re getting is showing that. But I also think (Georgia) is probably the best front they’re going to go against all year to this point. So it’ll be interesting to see how that matchup sort of transpires.”
One observation that Booker offered, particularly in the pass rush, is that Georgia will send extensive pressure on early downs. Most teams, according to Booker, reserve their “need it” pressures for third down when they need a sack. But Georgia will send that on a first-and-10 situation. That consistent pressure will test the aforementioned improvements on each down.
True freshman Kadyn Proctor ’s play has been a good development as of late, and he was named the SEC’s Co-Freshman of the Week for his performance against Auburn.
“We’ve talked about on several occasions him developing confidence in what he’s supposed to do, how he’s supposed to do it, why he’s supposed to do it that way,” Saban said. “The improved communication of the offensive line, I think, has contributed to that development of confidence. I think that’s the one word that when you have success, which he has had more success in recent games, that really helps build confidence and an expectation that you can do things at a high level. And that’s how you prepare. That’s how you go play.”
The Tide must manage expectations in a game with potential College Football Playoff implications.
Saturday’s game feels like a de-facto Playoff elimination game. There’s the outside chance that Alabama and Georgia make the four-team field with an Alabama win, but there’s no question that a loss eliminates Alabama from contention. Alabama has held firm at No. 8 in the media/coaches polls as well as the Playoff rankings for several weeks, but players understand how things can change with a win.
“I’ll say probably Week 3, we kind of knew that (the SEC championship) would kind of be the deciding game for this type of situation,” Moore said. “But I don’t think that needs to be our focus this week. I think our focus this week is to go out there and execute and have championship-level preparation and make sure everybody knows how big this game is. How important it is to all of our fans. Yeah, we just have to go out and execute and play together and play for 60 minutes.”
There have been heated debates about an Alabama win alone being enough to secure a spot in the Playoff. Alabama controls its final message to the committee with how it plays on Saturday, and that process of reaching optimal execution began early this week.
“I think we just want to go out there and dominate and just be a championship team,” Deontae Lawson said. “I think that just starts in the week with our preparation.”
A few Alabama players are up for national awards.
With the regular season over, conference and national award nominations are filing in. On Monday, two Alabama players were named finalists for respective awards.
Senior kicker Will Reichard is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the nation’s best kicker. Junior linebacker Dallas Turner is a finalist for the Bednarik Award, which goes to the nation’s best defensive player, as well as the Lott IMPACT Trophy for the best college defender on and off the field. Will Anderson won the award in 2022. Milroe (Davey O’Brien Award for best quarterback) and Kool-Aid McKinstry (Thorpe Award for best defensive back) were semifinalists but not named finalists.
The Bednarik and Groza awards will be announced on Dec. 8, and the Lott IMPACT Trophy will be announced on Dec. 10.
(Top photo: Michael Chang / )
