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00:00 For bama central.com I am Will Miller joined today by Matthew Gibson and
00:03 today we're going to be discussing what could be a major turning point for
00:07 this Alabama football season this past weekend.
00:10 26 to 20 win in college station over the Texas A&M Aggies and
00:14 one of the standouts in that game, wide receiver Jermaine Burton.
00:18 And he's a guy that's carried a lot of talk from the fan base and
00:23 perhaps by way of himself things that, but
00:28 maybe just maybe he's turned a corner with 197 yards and
00:33 two touchdowns and incredible performance in Kyle field and
00:38 certainly his best career performance at Alabama to date considering
00:43 the magnitude of the game the road circumstances and everything else.
00:49 So the best single performance by an Alabama wide receiver this season as well.
00:55 Transferred from Georgia last year, a lot of hype, a lot of talk, but
00:58 this is best performance.
01:00 Is this a turning point for him for the rest of his career at Alabama?
01:03 >> I think so well and part of it I think comes down to some of the body language
01:08 that burden had been admitted all year.
01:09 I mean, I think looking back,
01:12 Burton has always been a guy that appears so far in his head.
01:16 You can see it on the field, you can see it how he carries himself.
01:19 But versus Texas A&M, he was fired up, he looked confident.
01:23 Second 100 yard performance that Burton's had in an Alabama uniform
01:27 last year versus Austin Peay was the only other one.
01:29 Obviously two touchdowns, 197 yards, a career high in receptions for him.
01:36 Look, and this is a guy that Alabama has needed to step up for so long.
01:40 And I think a lot of his issues have honestly stemmed from last year and
01:44 after the Tennessee game.
01:45 He's had a lot of criticism coming at him from all different areas,
01:49 whether it be from Alabama and wanting him to step up or
01:52 the fans that were criticizing him for maybe some drops or
01:55 lack of maybe body language things that we see on TV.
01:59 I think that Burton is just a guy that after this could really use
02:05 the confidence boost to propel himself forward.
02:08 And for Jalen Millrow, having a wide receiver like Burton that can step up,
02:13 if Burton can continue playing like this for the rest of the year,
02:15 it's gonna be so big for Millrow.
02:18 And him managing games and him having a playmaker on the offensive end,
02:21 cuz that's something Alabama has been trying to find for
02:23 a couple weeks now with Burton.
02:25 I think when you couple him along with Bond, who had a good game, and
02:29 even Amari Nyblack as a tight end,
02:30 you're beginning to find some of those weapons that Millrow has been looking for.
02:34 And I think it bodes well for
02:36 the future if Jermaine Burton can continue to put up performances like this.
02:39 >> Well, it's a good thing to bring up at the end of your comments there with
02:43 the other wide receivers such as Isaiah Bond and Amari Nyblack.
02:47 What does a performance like this mean for the rest of the wide receiver room,
02:50 considering that the numbers up until this past weekend were
02:54 not exactly eye popping really across the board.
02:57 Amari had a strong showing against Mississippi State in Starkville, but
03:01 again, no touchdowns and only 60 some odd yards as the best Alabama
03:06 wide outer receiver in that game.
03:09 So for a receiver to go out and basically have 200 yards and
03:13 multiple touchdowns, what type of confidence does that create in the rest
03:17 of the room?
03:19 >> Well, I think it sets the tone for those wide receivers.
03:21 If Jermaine Burton is gonna continue playing like this,
03:23 he's gonna get a lot of the target share.
03:25 And as much as people would like to maybe think not so,
03:28 those guys are competitive.
03:29 They wanna get targets, they obviously have the ideas of wanting to go to
03:33 the next level and to get that, you need to be able to get targets.
03:36 And for a quarterback like Taylor Merrow,
03:38 who doesn't have the best progression since, but he's getting better.
03:43 I think it makes them want to step up more, and
03:46 I think you're gonna see a enhanced level of competition.
03:52 [INAUDIBLE] Burton is gonna keep putting up performances like this.
03:57 That's something that if they want to enhance their own stock,
04:01 if they wanna keep playing and getting target shares,
04:04 they're gonna have to work an extra step harder.
04:06 If this is what the version of Burton that Alabama's gonna be getting for
04:09 the rest of the year.
04:09 >> For BamaCentral.com, I'm Will Miller here with Matthew Gibson once again, and
04:14 thank you for watching.
04:15 [MUSIC]