There’s no quarterback controversy as Jalen Milroe leads the Crimson Tide against South Florida.
The same couldn’t be said last year. Going into the game against USF, there were many questions surrounding Alabama’s offense. Milroe was benched due to his poor performance against Texas the previous week, and backup Tyler Buchner, who has since transferred to play lacrosse at Notre Dame, was handed starter duties against the Bulls.
Buchner only completed 5 of 14 passing attempts for 34 yards, and the Crimson Tide didn’t score in the five drives he played before he too was benched, this time in favor of third-stringer Ty Simpson.
While Simpson led the Crimson Tide to the 17-3 victory, the team left the game with more questions than answers. Alabama’s 17 points were its lowest in a regular-season game since the 2017 Iron Bowl and the lowest against a non-Power Five school since 2007.
The Crimson Tide would’ve been in serious trouble if it wasn’t for the defense shutting down South Florida. The defense held the Bulls offense to 264 yards of total offense and only 3 points, and that total was aided by Alabama muffing a punt and giving the USF offense the ball at the opposing 30.
“I thought the defense did an outstanding job of only giving up three points, and that was after a turnover,” former head coach Nick Saban said after the game. “They gave them good field position, so a lot of guys really played well, pressured the quarterback pretty well, didn’t give up a lot of explosive plays and kept them off the board.”
Simpson and Buchner combined on the day for 10 completions on 23 attempts for 107 yards, with no touchdowns through the air for either. On the ground, Simpson did score a rushing touchdown, but he and Buchner combined for -1 rushing yards.
After the game, Saban declared that Milroe would start the following week against Ole Miss, a title he has kept since.
“He’s had the opportunity to play. So have the other guys. Jalen played the best of those guys, so I think he’s earned the opportunity to be the quarterback,” Saban said at a press conference the following Monday.
In the 2024 version of this game, Milroe will need to lead the Crimson Tide to a better offensive performance.
Last week’s 63-0 win against Western Kentucky gave fans a glimpse of how effective Alabama’s offense can be, as the Crimson Tide had eight plays of 20+ yards during the first three quarters of the game.
The offense will look to continue the momentum and rack up points against South Florida with more explosive plays than last year’s game and much more consistency from the quarterback position.
Milroe showed exactly what the team needed last week, completing 7 passes in 9 attempts for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 79 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground, leading to his highest quarterback rating from ESPN (98.7) ever in a game he has started.
“I thought he did a nice job,” offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said Monday after the game. “I think, obviously, he was very explosive. The thing that I enjoyed and I was proud of him was just the communication between series, what he saw. I thought he saw the game very clearly.”
As well as the passing attack, the offense will hope the rushing attack will have similar success to last week’s showing, as the dynamic duo of running backs Justice Haynes and Jam Miller combined to have nine carries for 156 yards. The entirety of the rushing attack combined for 334 rushing yards and a notably high 7.1 yards per carry.
The Crimson Tide will also hope to carry over its ability last year to limit the South Florida passing game and its starting quarterback Byrum Brown, who only had 87 yards passing with no touchdowns and an interception.
The defense is looking for a better performance stopping the run, as the Bulls offense had 177 yards, albeit on only 3.8 yards per carry.
In the defense’s first test this season against Western Kentucky, it stopped both the passing and running game. Hilltoppers quarterback TJ Finley only threw for 92 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, and the team combined for 42 rushing yards and 1.6 yards per attempt.
“We’ll see them on Saturday,” linebacker Jihaad Campbell said when asked about the Bulls Tuesday after practice.
Alabama football will be back in Bryant-Denny Stadium to play South Florida on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Fans can stream the game on ESPN.
