(Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire)
The Alabama Crimson Tide are 2-0 after pulling away late on Saturday night at home against South Florida in a game that was significantly closer than it should have been for large portions of the evening.
If you just took a glance at the final score, a 42-16 victory is nothing to turn your nose up at. But, it took a 28-point fourth quarter from the Tide to make things look a lot prettier than they really were.
The reality is that Alabama was bullied around on their home turf for three quarters by a team that is significantly inferior to them. Now, penalties and sloppy play overall had a lot to do with the game being as close as it was, something that can and should be corrected — but the issues the team is displaying are concerning to say the least.
For one, problems along the offensive line reared their head once again as they did early during last season. The eventual return of both a healthy Kadyn Proctor and Elijah Pritchett should remedy that, but there was no reason for the lack of ability to move the ball in the third quarter on Saturday.
Two long touchdowns from Jam Miller and Justice Haynes down the stretch made the rushing numbers appear much better than they actually were.
In fact, even with the late scores, South Florida still out-rushed Alabama with a total of 206 yards to 194 yards as the Bulls rushing game dominated the young Tide defense at times.
Going hand-in-hand with the offensive line was the performance of Jalen Milroe. Milroe looks very similar to the quarterback he was early in the 2023 season. Holding onto the ball too long, struggling to read a defense, and inaccuracy on intermediate throws, all issues he’s always had.
This is not to say the Tide can’t win with Milroe. They can and did last season. However, things around Alabama’s leader and QB1 have to improve in order to maximize his ability to make plays and hit open receivers.
Against South Florida at home, you can get away with a performance in which you got far from your ‘A’ game from both the offensive line and the quarterback. But can you get away with it on the road against Wisconsin? Maybe not. When facing Georgia? Definitely not.
Milroe would be the first to tell you that what the team put on the field on Saturday night was not good enough, and how much that improves will go a long way towards determining what the ceiling of this team is.
