John Fisher/Getty Images

Jalen Milroe Earns Heisman Praise, Ryan Williams Shines as Alabama Crushes Wisconsin

Mike Chiari

Star quarterback Jalen Milroe and phenomenal freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams put on a show Saturday in the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide's 42-10 road win over the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

As has often been the case since last season, Milroe was the star of the show for Bama on Saturday thanks to his dual-threat ability, going 12-of-17 for 196 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 75 yards and two scores.

Milroe got the job done primarily with the deep ball and his legs, and he garnered plenty of Heisman Trophy hype on social media as a result:

After falling behind 3-0, Milroe got Alabama on the board in the closing seconds of the first quarter with a perfectly placed, 31-yard pass to Williams, who was open after burning the Wisconsin cornerback:

Williams, who is the youngest player in FBS at years of age after reclassifying to the recruiting class of 2024, continued the storybook start to his college football career against the Badgers.

After scoring a total of three touchdowns in Alabama's first two games against Western Kentucky and South Florida, the speedster finished Saturday's contest with four receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Williams is already one of the most exciting players in college football just three games into his career, and fans heaped praise on him on social media for coming through with another huge performance Saturday:

After Alabama got its first touchdown against Wisconsin, the floodgates seemed to open, as Milroe ran for a three-yard score early in the second quarter:

Wisconsin missed a field goal with just 33 seconds remaining in the half, and Milroe made the Badgers pay in a big way, as he found Williams for a 47-yard gain and then threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Germie Bernard, giving the Tide a 17-second touchdown drive to enter halftime up 21-3:

Bama opened the second half with a 34-yard touchdown run by Jam Miller to extend the lead to 28-3. Wisconsin answered with a touchdown and forced an Alabama punt, but just when it looked like the Badgers had seized some momentum, the Crimson Tide put them away.

Alabama forced and recovered a Cade Yacamelli fumble late in the third, and Milroe cashed in on the opportunity with his second rushing touchdown and fourth total touchdown of the game:

Milroe put an exclamation point on his day in the fourth quarter with a 37-yard dot to Josh Cuevas for yet another score:

While the Alabama offense was humming under head coach Kalen DeBoer on Saturday, the defense played a significant role in the win as well.

Bama held Wisconsin to 290 total yards and forced two turnovers, while also allowing just three conversions on 14 third-down attempts.

In fairness to the Badgers, they lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke on the first series of the game, as he went down with what appeared to be a non-contact knee injury while running.

Van Dyke returned to the sidelines later on crutches, leaving backup Braedyn Locke to lead the Wisconsin offense for the remainder of the day.

While Locke saw some extended action at times last season, throwing for 777 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, he couldn't get much going against the stacked Alabama defense, going 13-of-26 for 125 yards with one touchdown and no picks.

The optics of Van Dyke's injury suggest 2-1 Wisconsin will have to move forward with Locke as the starter for the foreseeable future, so it may prove to be a positive for him that he was tested by the Tide.

Wisconsin has a bye next week before going on the road to face No. 11 USC on Sept. 28, while 3-0 Alabama will also be idle ahead of a titanic home clash with SEC rival and No. 1-ranked team Georgia on Sept. 28.

   

Read 74 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)