Alabama making a change at QB ahead of USF

Alabama is on the verge of making a change at quarterback in Week 3. After seeing veteran Jalen Milroe start the first two games of the season, the Crimson Tide are expected to give Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner an opportunity against South Florida on Saturday afternoon, according to Chris Low with ESPN.

Milroe has done some good things through the first two weeks, but the mistakes against Texas were costly. Both interceptions were poor decisions that came at criticial points in the game. The first happened on the opening drive when Alabama was moving the ball effectively after getting a stop on defense. The second was with the team down one score in the fourth quarter, which opened the door for Texas to create more separation after taking a 20-16 lead.

Soon after the 34-24 loss to the Longhorns, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked if he had given any thought to making a change at the position during the game. His response was revealing.

“I did,” Saban said in his postgame press conference. “But when he put the drive together to go down the field and score when we got ahead, I thought that gave him a lot of confidence. But we never, ever discussed it. I can’t sit here and say the thought doesn’t come to mind for any player that’s having a difficult time.

“But he made some good plays at the end of the game, and that was good to see. Obviously, the interception was critical in the game. So we’re just gonna work to try to get all our players better.”

Through his first two starts against Power Five opponents, Milroe has turned the football over five times. Four of those have directly led to 24 points for the opposing team, which is an average of almost two touchdowns per game. Simply put, that cannot happen if you expect to win games. There’s no guarantee that Buchner will provide a drastically different result, but the coaching staff seems ready to at least give him a chance against the Bulls.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt sophomore played in 13 games at Notre Dame with three of those being starts. He completed 56.8% of his 118 pass attempts for 949 yards (good for 8.0 yards per attempt), six touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also added another 459 yards and seven scores on the ground.

Buchner isn’t the same caliber of runner as Milroe by any means, but he’s proven capable of handling volume. He’s averaged 12 carries per game as a starting QB. Sacks are included in those numbers, but the San Diego (Calif.) native can be asked to handle some designed runs if offensive coordinator Tommy Rees decides to implement more of that into Alabama’s offense.

As Saban mentioned earlier this season, the quarterback competition is ongoing.

Buchner will now get his opportunity on Saturday. And who knows, we might even see some Ty Simpson. Milroe’s days as the Crimson Tide’s starter aren’t necessarily over neccessarily. We did see Alabama quickly turn back to Jake Coker back in 2015 after benching him in favor of Cooper Bateman against Ole Miss. A lot will depend on how Buchner performs.

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!