Alabama’s quarterback competition continued on Saturday as it took on USF and the only clear takeaway from the contest is that the Crimson Tide still don’t have a clear-cut option.
Between Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson, Alabama completed 10-of-23 passes for 107 yards in the tough-fought 17-3 win.
Following the game, Nick Saban shared that the team would continue to evaluate the position this week as it prepares for Ole Miss.
“I know you’re gonna ask me about the quarterbacks,” Saban said, “But we’re gonna evaluate the quarterbacks that played today and evaluate Jalen Milroe in terms of how he played and decide this week who gives the best opportunity to be successful as an offensive team. And that’s the way we’ll go.”
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Jalen Milroe was the lone quarterback in the competition who did not appear in the game despite starting the first two weeks. Saban shared that the decision to not play him today was a team one and that the coaches played the players who practiced best this week.
“I think that’s an internal team thing,” Saban said. “I think that everybody has the opportunity to respond in the right way when things don’t go exactly like you want them to, and we played the guys that practiced the best all week long.”
Buchner got the start for Alabama and played the first two quarters before the offense handed things over to Simpson. The Notre Dame transfer struggled to get anything going through the air as accuracy and protection issues plagued the offense. Buchner finished the day 5-of-14 for 34 passing yards.
When Simpson entered the contest there were still clear offensive issues in the passing game. Simpson finished 5-of-9 for 73 yards, but issues along the offensive line stalled several drives between both quarterbacks.
Through the struggles, Saban believed Simpson played well.
“I thought he did OK,” Saban said. “He made a couple really good throws and we missed a couple big-play throws that we’ve been making some of those. But I thought he played well. He managed the game well. We ran the ball quite a bit when he was in there. I don’t think the sacks were necessarily his fault. We’ll evaluate when we watch the film.”
Alabama will get back to work on Monday as conference play is set to begin next Saturday against Ole Miss.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
