Alabama football faces a familiar quarterback in its first road test of the Kalen DeBoer era.
The Crimson Tide heads to Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday to battle Wisconsin at 11 a.m. CT.
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Tyler Van Dyke, a senior quarterback, transferred from the University of Miami (Fla.) to the Badgers.
He’s recorded 406 passing yards and a touchdown through two games, but he had a lot of success with the Hurricanes. Van Dyke had 7,470 yards passing and 54 touchdown passes across three years in Miami. He saw action for one pass attempt against the Crimson Tide during his freshman season in 2021. D’Eriq King was the ‘Canes starting quarterback for its season opener versus Miami at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (Ga.), and Alabama earned a 44-13 victory.
Wisconsin is going to want to run the football a lot, but Van Dyke offers more of a challenge in the passing game for the Tide’s defensive secondary than Byrum Brown did for South Florida.
Phil Longo, Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator, has coached several talented quarterbacks.
He had Shea Patterson, Jordan Ta’amu, and Matt Corral in three seasons (2017-19) at Ole Miss.
He also produced two NFL quarterbacks with Sam Howell and Drake Maye at North Carolina from 2019 to 2022. Kane Wommack, Alabama’s defensive coordinator, has a lot of respect for Longo and knows he will have Van Dyke prepared to attack the Tide’s secondary.
“We are going to be facing a well established offense,” Wommack said Monday. “Phil Longo has had success at a number of stops and has had tremendous quarterbacks he has developed. Obviously, he has another one in Tyler Van Dyke. He is developing in their system. You can see he is starting to lean in, from week one to week two, to what they are trying to accomplish.”
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Van Dyke has weapons to distribute the ball to. Will Pauling is back as Wisconsin’s leading wide receiver from last year.
Pauling had 74 receptions for 837 yards and six touchdowns. He has 10 catches for 108 yards in two games this season.
The Badgers also have Bryson Green (6’3″), C.J. Williams, Trech Kekahuna, and Vinny Anthony II at wide receiver.
Van Dyke looks to spread the ball around, so Alabama has its work cut out for it.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
