Not 10 On Saturday, Alabama returned to winning ways, albeit not in a nice way. It was not at all attractive.
After a disheartening defeat to Texas, the Crimson Tide traveled to South Florida as 34.5-point favorites and only managed to win 17-
3. Despite winning last week, Florida A&M outscored the USF team, which has only won four games in the previous three seasons.
Still, Alabama had little trouble moving the ball. Tyler Buchner, a transfer from Notre Dame, was benched by Nick Saban in favor of
Jalen Milroe, although Buchner’s performance was even worse than Milroe’s against Texas last week, when he threw two terrible
interceptions.
Buchner was substituted for Ty Simpson after only five of fourteen passes for thirty-four yards. While he finished the game 5-of-9 for
73 yards and scored a rushing touchdown in the last minute of regulation, he had a few beautiful moments but failed to really ignite
the offense. He entered the game toward the end of the first half, taking snaps as the Crimson Tide capitalized on a USF fumble to get
a short field. Despite gaining just 13 yards on the play, the Tide managed to tie the score at 3-3 before the half.
Alabama’s opening drive of the second half ended in a three-and-out before the team eventually cobbled together a touchdown drive
later in the third. Simpson managed to locate a tight end. C.J.
The defense then prevented the outmatched Bulls from scoring any more points. However, Alabama’s offense persisted in its stutter.
Simpson took too many sacks and held onto the ball for too long, even if he didn’t make any backbreaking errors. Alabama was limited
to moving the ball on the ground. The offense put up 310 yards for the day, but the duo of Williams and Jase McClellan combined for
203 yards on 30 carries, offering a rare bright light in an otherwise awful showing.
All in all, it was nasty, and going into SEC play, Alabama’s Crimson Tide had more problems than answers. At this point, Nick Saban
and his staff have had a thorough examination of Milroe, Buchner, and Simpson, the three quarterbacks.
Ole Miss will be visiting Tuscaloosa the next weekend, so head coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will need to
work quickly to get this offense in order.
If not, things can get even more repulsive.
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