Back-up quarterback Jalen Milroe came off the bench cold for an injured Bryce Young at Arkansas last Saturday, and performed admirably, totaling 156 yards and two touchdowns rushing and passing in Alabama’s 49-26 victory.

Milroe’s solid showing was merely the latest in a long line of standout fill-in quarterbacks for the Crimson Tide in the last 60 or so years. Many of them went on to become outstanding starters in their own right, while others are mere footnotes to football history.

Here are 12 memorable back-up quarterback performances for the Crimson Tide over the years (listed in chronological order):

1. Steve Sloan (1963-64)

With Joe Namath got suspended indefinitely for “breaking training” (an early 1960s code phrase for drinking alcohol) in early December, coach Paul “Bear” Bryant first turned to Jack Hurlbut for the regular-season finale vs. Miami. Hurlbut didn’t perform great in a 17-12 Crimson Tide victory, and Sloan — then a little-known sophomore — stepped in for the Sugar Bowl vs. Ole Miss. He ran for 51 yards and passed for 29 as Alabama won 12-7 to finish the season 9-2 and ranked No. 8 nationally. Namath was reinstated prior to the following season, but injured his knee in the fourth game of 1964 vs. North Carolina State. Sloan started the next week vs. Tennessee, then finished the Florida game after Namath got hurt again. Sloan led victories over Mississippi State and LSU, then started vs. Auburn before injuring his own knee. When Namath hurt his knee for a third time, Sloan started the season-ending Orange Bowl vs. Texas. With Namath off to pro football after the 1964 season, Sloan was the regular starter in 1965, leading Alabama to a second straight national championship.

2. Joe Namath (1964)

Namath was a phenom unlike any had ever seen early in his career, throwing three touchdown passes in his first college start vs. Georgia in 1962 and leading the Crimson Tide to a 10-1 finish that season as a sophomore. He had Alabama at 7-2 the following year when he was suspended, though it was unclear at the time if Bryant would let him back on the team. He did, of course, and things went well until his knee injury vs. N.C. State. Despite the injury, Namath relieved Sloan in a 19-8 victory over Tennessee the following week, but got hurt again in a 20-10 win vs. Florida. He came in for an ailing Sloan vs. Auburn, throwing the winning touchdown pass in a 21-14 Alabama victory. He was set to start vs. Texas in the Orange Bowl, but re-injured his knee during practice a few days before the game. That set up one of the greatest relief appearances in Alabama football history, when Namath limped off the bench to replace an ineffective Sloan with Texas up 14-0 midway through the second quarter. He threw a pair of touchdown passes and also led a field goal drive as the Crimson Tide pulled to within 21-17 in the final minutes. Namath then directed Alabama to the Texas 1-yard line, calling his own number on fourth-and-goal. He was stopped just short of the goal line, meaning Alabama had lost (though Namath and many of his teammates continue to insist he scored on the play). Namath was named Orange Bowl MVP, and soon after left to burgeon his legend in New York.

3. Robert Fraley (1974)

Fraley was a highly sought-after quarterback recruit out of high school in Winchester, Tenn., where he was dubbed the “Winchester Rifle” due to his strong throwing arm. But three shoulder surgeries later, he found himself as the fourth-string quarterback in Alabama’s run-first wishbone offense. His time to shine came vs. Tennessee in 1974, with starting quarterback Gary Rutledge out due to a preseason injury and fill-in Richard Todd also on the shelf due to bruised ribs suffered vs. Ole Miss. Jack O’Rear actually started the Tennessee game at quarterback, but he too was injured in the first quarter. That brought on Fraley, who led the Crimson Tide to 21 second-half points in a 28-6 victory. Fraley started again the following week vs. TCU, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another in a 41-3 win. Todd returned vs. Mississippi State, relegating Fraley mostly to bench duty as Alabama finished off an 11-1 season and fourth straight SEC championship. Fraley went on to become a noted sports agent before he was killed in a private plane crash along with client and golf champion Payne Stewart in 1999.

4. Gary Hollingsworth (1989)

Hollingsworth had played in only one game in three years at Alabama — and had nearly quit football to concentrate on baseball at point — before he replaced an injury Jeff Dunn with the Crimson Tide leading by three in the third quarter against Kentucky in Week 2 of the 1989 season. Hollingsworth led Alabama to its lone touchdown of the day in a 15-3 victory, then went on to enjoy one of the greatest quarterback seasons in Crimson Tide history to that point. He passed for more than 2,300 yards and 14 touchdowns the rest of the way as Alabama won its first 10 games and reached a No. 2 national ranking before losing to Auburn in its regular-season finale. Dunn eventually returned to health, but could not shake Hollingsworth from the lineup. Hollingsworth started again in 1990, but had a far less-effective season as Alabama suffered numerous skill-position injuries on offense. Nevertheless, the Crimson Tide capped that season by beating Auburn for the first time since 1985.

5. Jay Barker (1991)

Alabama’s offense was scuffling along and trailing Tennessee 6-3 in the third quarter when starting quarterback Danny Woodson left the game with a strained hamstring. That brought on Barker, a redshirt freshman who was a recruiting afterthought the previous year and had played sparingly so far in 1991. Barker led Alabama to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and a 24-19 victory, and never let the job go for the rest of his career when healthy. Woodson was later suspended for disciplinary reasons, and Barker led the Crimson Tide to an 11-1 finish and No. 5 final ranking. Though little more than a caretaker at times, he also quarterbacked Alabama to the national championship as a sophomore in 1992. He missed much of the 1993 season due to injury, but came back to be a huge asset as a senior the following year. Barker won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the country’s top senior quarterback in 1994, finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and led Alabama to a 12-1 final record.

6. David Palmer (1993)

A quarterback in high school and one of the more dynamic players in Alabama history, Palmer worked almost exclusively at wide receiver and kick returner during his first two college seasons. But in his junior year, the Crimson Tide began to experiment with him heavily under center. Most notably, he took a direct snap and ran for a two-point conversion in the closing moments to tie Tennessee 17-17 in mid-October. Barker suffered a shoulder injury a week later at Ole Miss, sending the Alabama quarterback situation into flux for the rest of the year. Palmer alternated with Brian Burgdorf to finish off that 19-14 victory, then threw for 116 yards and a touchdown in a loss to LSU in early November. He started at quarterback the following week against Mississippi State, though Barker finished up a 36-25 Crimson Tide win. Barker was lost for the season with a knee injury against Auburn in the regular season finale, leading to one of Palmer’s greatest all-round performances in the SEC championship game against Florida. Though Alabama lost 28-13, Palmer ran for 93 yards on 16 carries and threw for 90 yards on 8-for-16 passing. Not bad for a 5-foot-9, 170-pound wide receiver.

7. Tyler Watts (1999)

Watts was a highly touted quarterback recruit out of Pelham High School in 1998, but redshirted that year as redshirt freshman Andrew Zow led Alabama to a winning season and a bowl game. Watts sat behind Zow to start the 1999 season, but got his first major opportunity after Zow suffered an ankle injury in a late October loss to Tennessee. Watts started the following week vs. Southern Miss, and helped Alabama to a 35-14 victory. He passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns in a win over LSU, and replaced an ineffective Zow in the regular-season finale vs. Auburn. With the Crimson Tide trailing 14-6, Watts led three fourth-quarter touchdown drives in a 28-17 Alabama win, its first at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Zow played most of the way in the SEC championship game and the Orange Bowl, but the two continued to battle for the job each of the next two seasons.

8. Andrew Zow (2001)

After Watts and Zow split time during a disastrous 2000 season in which Alabama finished 3-8, Watts earned the starting job under new coach Dennis Franchione the following year. He started the first nine games — in which the Crimson Tide went 4-5 — before leaving the Nov. 10 game against Mississippi State with a groin injury. Zow came on and threw for 157 yards and a touchdown as Alabama won 24-17. Zow also played the following week vs. Auburn, throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns in a shocking 31-7 Alabama win (the Tigers had supposedly spent the entire week preparing for Watts and the option). Zow also went the distance in victories over Southern Miss (which was pushed to the end of the season by 9/11) and in the Independence Bowl vs. Iowa State, capping his career with four straight victories and leaving Alabama as the program’s all-time leading passer.

9. Brodie Croyle (2002)

Zow was gone but Watts was still around in 2002, and he began that season as the unquestioned starter despite the presence of Croyle, a redshirt freshman who had been even more hyped than Watts upon joining the Alabama program. Watts suffered a foot injury early in a 20-7 victory over Southern Miss in Week 3, leading to Croyle’s first extensive game action. Croyle threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns in a win the following week vs. Arkansas, then played well in a loss to Georgia and victories over Ole Miss and Tennessee. Watts returned for the Nov. 2 game vs. Vanderbilt, and the only time Croyle played much the rest of the year was in trying to lead a failed comeback vs. Auburn in the regular-season finale. Croyle took over as the starter in 2003, but battled injuries all year. He was hurt again in Week 3 of 2004, suffering a season-ending knee injury vs. Western Carolina. Croyle finally stayed healthy as a senior in 2005, leading Alabama to a 10-2 record and a victory in the Cotton Bowl, the Crimson Tide’s first New Year’s Day Bowl win in nine years.

10. Tua Tagovailoa (2017)

Alabama’s quarterbacks stayed remarkably healthy after Croyle’s lost 2004 season, with a starter not missing a game due to injury for more than a decade. And it wasn’t until some years later that a quarterback was even pulled from a game due to ineffectiveness. Tagovailoa joined the Alabama program in 2017 as the most-hyped quarterback recruit in a half-century, but sat most of his freshman year behind Jalen Hurts, the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Tagovailoa played in the second half of several blowout wins, showing tantalizing passing skill in games against Vanderbilt and Tennessee in particular. Hurts, meanwhile, was struggling with consistency throwing the ball while Alabama continued to win. Head coach Nick Saban finally made a change at halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Georgia, putting Tagovailoa in with the Crimson Tide trailing 13-0. Tagovailoa threw a pair of second-half touchdowns to tie the game, then immortalized his name in Alabama history when he hit DeVonta Smith for the 41-yard game-winner in overtime, giving the Crimson Tide a walk-off national championship win.

11. Jalen Hurts (2018)

Tagovailoa won the starting job over Hurts in 2018, but Hurts did not transfer away from Alabama as many players in his situation were doing at the time. Hurts filled Tagovailoa’s role from the previous season, playing primarily in the fourth quarter of blowout victories. Tagovailoa suffered a high ankle sprain during the SEC championship game vs. Georgia, and this time it was Hurts’ turn to salvage not only a victory over the Bulldogs but the Crimson Tide’s season. He ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the fourth quarter as Alabama rallied for a 35-28 victory and remained undefeated. Tagovailoa went the distance in the Orange Bowl vs. Oklahoma and in the national championship game loss to Clemson, so Hurts decided to use his final year of college eligibility elsewhere. He transferred to Oklahoma, where he led the Sooners to a Big 12 championship and finished second in the 2019 Heisman Trophy voting to LSU’s Joe Burrow.

12. Mac Jones (2019)

With Hurts gone, Jones inherited the Alabama backup job behind Tagovailoa in 2019. Everything went well until Tagovailoa injured his ankle again in mid-October vs. Tennessee. Jones finished that game — a 35-13 victory — then went the distance the following week vs. Arkansas, throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-7 Alabama win. Tagovailoa came back two weeks later vs. LSU, throwing for 418 yards and four touchdowns in Alabama’s 46-41 loss to the eventual national champions. The following week at Mississippi State, however, Tagovailoa’s Crimson Tide career ended due to a broken hip suffered on a third-quarter sack. That left the offense in the hands of Jones, who threw for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns in the final three games of the season (one of those a 48-45 loss at Auburn). With Tagovailoa off to the NFL, it was Jones’ team from the jump in 2020. He put together one of the greatest seasons in Alabama history, passing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns as the Crimson Tide went 13-0 and won the national championship. Jones was third in the Heisman voting that season behind Smith (his Alabama teammate) and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Creg Stephenson is a sports writer for AL.com. He has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @CregStephenson.