Well, two games wasn’t long.
Alabama on Friday benched starting quarterback Jalen Milroe for Tyler Buchner, who came to the Crimson Tide through the transfer portal from Notre Dame in the offseason.
Several media outlets reported the story on Friday; here’s the Tuscaloosa News report (Tyler Buchner expected to start at QB ahead of Jalen Milroe vs. USF (tuscaloosanews.com).
Milroe, who was gracious in his appearance in front of the media at coach Nick Saban’s press conference after the season-opening win over Middle Tennessee and before playing Texas on Sept. 9, went 14-of-27 against the Texas and threw two interceptions, but he was only one part of a myriad of issues for the Crimson Tide in that 34-24 loss in Tuscaloosa to the Longhorns. Pass protection on offense and pass rush on defense also come to mind.
And so did coaching, Saban noted this week, mentioned in an article on CBSsports.com here (Alabama’s Nick Saban agrees with critics, says Crimson Tide ‘didn’t play great’ in loss to Texas – CBSSports.com).
“I think we didn’t play great,” Saban said. “People get upset that we get criticized — but why wouldn’t we get criticized if we don’t play well? People call me and say, ‘Man, this guy’s a jerk for saying this about you.’ No, he really isn’t. It’s right. We didn’t play good. I’m responsible for that.”
So Buchner will get his chance. And Milroe could play again, and so could redshirt freshman Ty Simpson, because the Tide is a 32-point favorite at this writing on Friday against South Florida Saturday afternoon.
“Well, we evaluate every position every week,” Saban said. “If guys want security in their position, they need to play well. Everybody on our team knows that. I think everybody has responded in a positive way to try to get better and to improve. We’ll constantly evaluate that position as we do every other position.”
