3 lessons from Alabama’s ugly win over South Florida

Alabama’s football team escaped on Saturday. The Crimson Tide survived a major scare from South Florida on Saturday, heading home with a 42-16 victory at Bryant-Denny Stadium, scoring most of their points late after leading by just two points in the fourth quarter.

There is a lot to improve on after the poor performance from Kalen DeBoer and Co. Before the Tide moves on to Wisconsin week, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win.

Problems in the offensive

The Crimson Tide’s offensive line was a bit inconsistent on Saturday. Regular left tackle Kadyn Proctor missed the game due to a shoulder injury sustained during warmups before the season opener.

Tyler Booker moved to the left tackle position in place of Elijah Pritchett, who started against Western Kentucky. Geno VanDeMark took over the left guard spot vacated by Booker.

Nothing was going right. Alabama just couldn’t sustain the offense, and the obvious blame lay on poor blocking.

VanDeMark had trouble slowing South Florida’s rush, as did right tackle Wilkin Formby. Jalen Milroe was often pressured, and Alabama’s offense was ineffective as a result.

Proctor’s return can’t come soon enough for the struggling UA offense, and DeBoer was optimistic he’ll be back for the Wisconsin game.

Sloppy start

In 2023, South Florida gave Alabama a real scare. The Bulls kept the game exciting until the end and the game became the turning point in the Crimson Tide’s SEC championship season.

That shouldn’t happen again, but things didn’t go well for Alabama in the first half.

USF quarterback Byrum Brown was successful with his running game and the Bulls took an early 3-0 lead. Alabama regained the lead but never found their stride in the first half.

Penalties didn’t help. Alabama had trouble sustaining offense and lacked the cutting edge it had shown against Western Kentucky.

The offensive line struggled and while USF was never able to take full advantage, Alabama gave the less talented Bulls far too many chances early on.

Costly penalties

On South Florida’s first drive of the game, it appeared the Crimson Tide had stopped the Bulls. USF faced a third down in its own territory and quarterback Byrum Brown couldn’t find a receiver before being stopped just short of the chain.

Unfortunately for Alabama, there was a flag on the field. Domani Jackson was cautioned for a defensive hold and the Bulls took an early lead with a second chance field goal.

Later, offensive guard Geno VanDeMark prevented a touchdown by Justice Haynes with a holding offense. The drive still ended with a touchdown, which Jalen Milroe converted from 10 yards out.

The Crimson Tide then forced a punt. A false start by Tyler Booker caused problems on the next drive and UA had to kick the ball back.

In the second quarter, Alabama denied two first downs on the same drive through holding penalties, including a second one against VanDeMark. An intentional grounding call against Milroe, followed by a sack, forced the Tide to punt deep in their own territory on fourth-and-38.

Late in the half, Milroe ran for a 74-yard touchdown run. The run was called back and the drive ended with an Alabama punt.

Overall, the Crimson Tide finished the first half with eight penalties for 60 lost yards. DeBoer talked about his desire to avoid “stupid penalties,” but his team had plenty of them early on.