Jalen Milroe and Bama didn’t get a chance, but might get a third chance

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe celebrates a touchdown during Saturday’s 28-14 win over Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium. (UA Athletics)

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer won his first Iron Bowl on his first try, something not even some guys named Bryant and Saban could do. (UA Athletics)

Alabama freshman Ryan Williams can’t catch this bomb from Jalen Milroe against Auburn on Saturday in the Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium. (UA Athletics)

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe meets reporters after the Tide’s Iron Bowl triumph on Saturday. (Jimmy Wigfield/Call News)

TUSCALOOSA – The Iron Bowl was not played on Saturday. It was the Missed Opportunity Bowl. It was the Non-Coup de Grace Bowl.

Alabama beat Auburn 28-14 and 100,000 fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium then roared with joy in their familiar refrain as the Tigers came to Tuscaloosa the last seven times: “Hey Tigers! We just beat you hands down!”

But hell is a relative term here. Hell would have turned the ball over four times, like the Crimson Tide did, and lost to an Auburn team that didn’t scare anyone despite its four-overtime win over Texas A&M last week. Hell would have been had the Tigers scored three touchdowns when they reached the red zone in the first half. Hell would have been if coach Kalen DeBoer had lost his first game between Alabama and Auburn, even though a couple of colleagues named Bryant and Saban lost their first (“It lived up to the hype,” he said afterward, somewhat relieved). It would have been hellish to have to answer any more questions about Jalen Milroe’s effectiveness as a quarterback. Hell would have lost if the Tide had blown the Tigers out.

Luckily for Alabama, it won and, amazingly, still has a chance to reach the College Football Playoff after Michigan upset Ohio State early Saturday.

Milroe — the guy Tide fans love when he wins and love to lash out when he loses — was back to his best after Saturday’s win. He circled Nick Saban Field in the evening light, drinking in their cheers.

“It’s hard being the quarterback of a football team,” DeBoer said. “I think it’s hard to be the quarterback of a team in a program that expects to win every game.”

Milroe and DeBoer shared that they were vilified by fans in a season where Alabama was searching for an identity, but Milroe said DeBoer deftly handled his first season in Nick Saban’s cavernous shadow. In fact, DeBoer is now tied with Frank Thomas for the most wins by a first-year Alabama coach.

“I love coach DeBoer,” Milroe said. “I love his commitment, his resilience and the role he fulfills with the position he holds. He constantly strives to become the best coach he can be for our football team. “I respect him a lot for always trying to get the best out of me and pushing me every day to be the best quarterback in the nation be who I can be for this football team. It’s not easy being a head coach in the SEC. Yes, we lost some games. Yes, we didn’t play our best game. But I really enjoyed being a quarterback for Coach DeBoer.”

Milroe may have had a breakout game Saturday with perhaps his best game of the season, even better than the win over Georgia that now somehow seems to have taken place in Civil War.

Yes, he intercepted. He fumbled twice. But in the third round he was unstoppable and finally tore a thorn out of his paw that had plagued him all year.

Milroe converted 7 of 10 on third and fifth or longer and 12 of 18 overall. Entering Saturday, he was a miserable 27% on third-and-5 or longer, not counting games against Western Kentucky, South Florida and Mercer.

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze didn’t have to think long about the meaning of that number.

“The difference in the game is their third-down conversions,” he said. “You knew how good Milroe was and what he could do with his feet and his arm. Some of them were third and long and you can’t leave the field.”

The Tigers turned Milroe into a passer to be his kryptonite, and he completed 18 of 24 throws for 256 yards. He also managed to rush or stab Auburn with straight goalies for 104 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns.

A week after Milroe was criticized for his performance in the 24-3 loss to Oklahoma, he found his balance.

“I’m really proud of the way he played tonight,” DeBoer said. “He found his time to do plays. Sometimes we fell behind, but he didn’t force it. He’s tried well at times to get his head down and then he loves to use his speed and get the corner. When he does things like that, it becomes really hard to defend us. I thought he threw the ball extremely well and we had a few more that we probably left out on the football field.”

Milroe, who had a worse quarterback rating than his Auburn counterpart Peyton Thorne on Saturday, wouldn’t say whether the Tide are a playoff-worthy team.

“It is not up to us to decide what our future looks like, but we have shown tremendous courage and commitment from everyone on the football team,” he said. “Regardless of whether we’re in or out, I’m just proud of the guys that are in the locker room, proud of their fight, their commitment, because it’s easy to persevere and easy to give up, but we don’t have that in it. “this locker room.”

If Alabama makes it to the inaugural 12-team playoffs, Milroe’s newfound third-round skills — and his seven wins over AP Top 25 teams over the last two years — will serve the Tide well.

“I think I could be better,” he said. “Third down is so important in a football game because it gives you the momentum you need. And it’s a very intense down, but it’s so important to be above the 80 percent range. I don’t know if we can do that, but that was definitely an improvement we made this week.”

DeBoer, of course, was committed to getting Alabama into the playoffs at 9-3.

“Everyone knows our schedule,” he said. “I know we beat four top-25 teams during the year. It’s just a laborious task week after week, and the only conference that needs to do that is ours. We have won five of our last six games and are playing physical football. We were what the game was about.”

That the Tide won despite Ryan Williams making an impressive and explosive play made Saturday’s triumph even more impressive and even more infuriating.

Williams — who was expected to be the SEC rookie of the year — fumbled early at the Tigers’ 29 after converting a 19-yard pass from Milroe on a third-and-8. He dropped a touchdown bomb after beating a defender. He ended up slipping and losing 5 yards. His targets and yards per catch were nearly halved in the final half of the season as he faced double teams and jams. Hollywood needs to be revitalized if the Tide makes the playoffs; He’s too good to be so quiet.

Meanwhile, Freeze and Auburn won’t be playing in a bowl after a second straight losing season, and he knows his third year will be his defining season, as it’s expected to be the second of two consecutive top-10 recruiting classes for him I will start signing on Wednesday.

“It was disappointing tonight, a disappointing season,” he said after Saturday’s loss. “I hate to see them suffer like this.”

Freeze knew his limited offense had to take advantage of every opportunity.

“It could have been a different game,” he said, “if they had gotten them into the end zone when we had three chances to do so in the first half.” Things like that make you constantly doubt yourself because when we’re there If we could have made it 28:21, we would have liked to see what would have happened.”

Freeze said the fact that Alabama and Milroe were unstoppable on third down took its toll on the Tigers.

“It took a toll on us,” he said. “I mean, we’re skinny and you can tell we looked gassed at times.”

Freeze is relying on the patience of Auburn fans as he tries to build his roster with high school talent rather than a truckload of transfers.

“I think we’re improving with a lot of young kids who are very talented,” he said. “At the same time, we had chances to win games with who we are.”

It’s a tough sell, but Freeze wants Tigers fans to look beyond the current results.

“I make it a point not to learn your identity from a scoreboard,” he said. “And I want our players to understand that because they are being talked about. I’m signing up for it. I just don’t think 20 years from now they’ll necessarily be thinking about the wins and losses we’ve had. And I know that’s not the world we live in. You get paid to cover us, and you get paid to write the good, the bad, and everything in between.”

When Freeze defeated Saban twice during his practice at Ole Miss, he told his players, “Let’s lock the gates, pick a fight and see what they’ve got!”

Auburn saw what Alabama had to offer, despite its flaws, on Saturday. The Tigers will have to fight for another year. The Tide could continue to struggle this year.