Alabama Crimson Tide vs USF Bulls Second Half Open Thread

Well, that was the most disastrous half of football in Nick Saban’s entire tenure at Alabama. Alabama tried to start Tyler Buchner at QB, at the results were downright atrocious as the transfer QB completed 5/14 passes for all of 34 yards. He was eventually replaced by Ty Simpson for the final drive, but Simpson was blasted in the backfield before even finishing the first few steps of his dropback, so we still have no idea if the 2nd year man at QB will be any better or not.

Jase McClellan has had quite a few nice runs, but every time he gets a big run, Roydell Williams gets immediately subbed in, and the senior is getting all of 1 yard per rush. The OL has been downright awful, allowing the RBs to get hit in the backfield on nearly every run and the QBs are facing pressure.

Anyway, the defense is playing well. They’ve barely allowed any passing yards and have racked up 4 sacks and a forced fumble, plus got a couple of turnovers on downs. They’ve given up a couple of decent run plays, by Nay’Quan Wright is a former SEC running back, so a couple of runs can be forgiven. Dallas Turner has been awesome, with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble already.

Special teams gaffes have also been a problem. The Tide gunners have thrice messed up downing a perfectly placed punt within the 5 yard line. Kool Aid McKinstry tried to field a punt that was scooting along the ground between a bunch of defenders and wound up turning the ball over. Terrion Arnold scored a TD on a kick return, only for it to get called back for a really egregious, unnecessary hold from Jeremiah Alexander.

I don’t know what the answer is at this point. Maybe it’s Ty Simpson. Maybe it’s Dylan Lonergan. Maybe its Jalen Milroe coming back after watching his team flounder for a half.

I’m not sure it matters if the offensive line doesn’t fix things fast. Regardless, if Alabama doesn’t fix things fast coming out of halftime, they could very well lose to USF, and this level of play won’t win a single SEC game this season.

Let’s hope something changes at halftime.

Roll Tide?