Jalen Milroe outlines how Alabama must move past Vandy upset

There are few positives for Alabama to take from its 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt this past weekend.

The Crimson Tide rolled into the matchup as the top team in the nation, fresh off a victory over No. 2 Georgia. They looked, once again, like a championship contender. New head coach Kalen DeBoer looked like a championship-worthy head coach — almost as if Nick Saban never left.

On paper, the trip to 2-2 Vandy should have been a cakewalk. Instead, Nashville became a house of horrors for Alabama.

So how do the Crimson Tide move on from that?

According to quarterback Jalen Milroe, who spoke with reporters after the game, it comes down to turning this terrible loss into a learning moment.

“Reflect and build,” Milroe said (h/t On3). “I think that’s so important for a football team because, of course, losing feels bad. It’s all about how you can reflect and how you can refine and get better. That’s gonna be so critical for us to have a 24-hour rule, regroup, refocus, and challenge each other to get better. We know that we’re not a finished product.”

Those comments show that Milroe is wise beyond his years, but it’s going to take a monumental coaching effort from DeBoer and his staff to make sure that the Tide don’t spiral out of control after this one.

It’s important to keep in mind that all their goals are still in front of them. They may have dropped from No. 1 in the nation to No. 7, but the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff are still fully in play.

There will be more adversity on the way, though, with games against South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU, Oklahoma and Auburn coming up and, clearly, even a clash with Mercer can’t be completely written in as a win.

Parity is the name of the game in college football right now. That’s a new phenomenon for the Crimson Tide so, as Milroe pointed out, they’re going to have to learn and adapt.