The Crimson Tide managed a late win against South Florida on Saturday night after three quarters full of offensive struggles.
Much like last week, the defense stood out. The defensive line performed well, as it managed to put pressure on USF quarterback Byrum Brown the whole game.
The Crimson Tide finished with four sacks, seven tackles for loss and six pass deflections, leaving fans with very little to complain about on the defensive side of the ball.
Offensively, however, the game had a noticeable change of pace and play style compared to Week 1 against Western Kentucky. Milroe threw more in the first half than he did the entire game the week prior, this time with considerably less success.
Milroe finished the game against USF 17-27 for 199 yards. In contrast, Milroe threw for 200 yards off just seven completions last week.
Similar to the week prior, a fumbled snap kicked off the fourth quarter, one of three total turnovers for Alabama on the night. With the goal line yards away and just under 14 minutes left in the game, a bad snap exchange resulted in a fumble by Milroe and a recovery for the Bulls.
This three-turnover performance comes after only one turnover last week. Against Western Kentucky, it was a high snap that Milroe wasn’t able to get his hands on. Milroe, however, took ownership of the fumbled snap this week.
“That’s all on me. I gotta do better under center,” Milroe said. “I gotta do a better job communicating early on, especially with the shot [play] clock, especially when we’re so close to the end zone.”
The Crimson Tide went into the fourth quarter up 14-13 yet managed to finish the game with a final score of 42-16. The offense stepped up and executed when needed.
In the fourth, the team totaled 249 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams shined again as he picked up a 43-yard receiving touchdown.
Running backs Jam Miller and Justice Haynes both scored touchdowns late in the game and combined for 121 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone.
Center Parker Brailsford said that the late surge came with lessons learned, including the need to communicate better but also for everyone to get their jobs done.
“Just do your job. Stop trying to be a hero,” Brailsford said of the takeaways from the game. “Stop trying to do everybody else’s job. Stop thinking about what everybody else has going on. Just do your job. And we did that and then obviously you saw the result.”
Another major takeaway from the game was the amount of penalties committed by Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished the game with 13 penalties for 120 yards.
Many of these penalties took away yardage early on, including a 74-yard touchdown run from Milroe.
The penalty problem is one that worsened after Week 1. Alabama was called for seven penalties for a total of 59 yards against Western Kentucky, and both of those numbers almost doubled against USF.
After the game, DeBoer said that the final-quarter surge was the result of “staying away from the penalties and turnovers.” That proved to be true, as each scoring drive for Alabama in the fourth quarter took no more than four plays and featured zero penalties.
“It [the win] was just not having penalties. It’s hard to overcome, you know, second-and-long, third-and-long situations, and so we had to learn some lessons the hard way tonight,” DeBoer said.
With Kadyn Proctor still out, the offensive line was rearranged. Milroe was pressured most of the game and was sacked three times. Alabama will need to work on the offensive line this week as it prepares for a road game against Wisconsin, a notoriously loud stadium.
“We’re going to have the crowd noise,” Brailsford said. “We’re going to go practice in it. I’m going to make sure I’m loud and everybody’s echoing calls.”
The Crimson Tide will face Wisconsin this Saturday at 11 a.m. Fans can watch the matchup live on FOX.
