Takeaways from Alabama Football's Lousy Road Win at USF

The Crimson Tide needed a late scoring drive to put away the rebuilding Bulls.

TAMPA, Fla. — The Alabama Crimson Tide played poorly in its loss to No. 4 Texas last weekend. During Nick Saban's reign in Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide has had a knack for bouncing back in a big way after losses.

Alabama had a great opportunity to regain its confidence against a USF team that has won just five games since the beginning of the 2020-21 season. The Crimson Tide was favored by 34 points in Tampa on Saturday.

Safe to say, Alabama fell way short of expectations — again.

Saturday was an opportunity for the Crimson Tide to resolve some issues from its loss against the Longhorns. Instead, its extremely underwhelming performance against a bad team opened up more wounds with SEC play right around the corner.

Here are my biggest takeaways from Alabama's 17-3 win over the Bulls:

The Offensive Line is Only Getting Worse

What is going on? Seriously?

Coming into the season, the Crimson Tide's offensive line was considered one of, if not the strongest position groups on the team. All of the talk was about how big and strong the unit was shaping up to be. The players themselves used the words "dominant" and "nasty" and "physical" over and over again throughout the spring and fall. At this point, Alabama's offensive line is none of those things.

Words that come to mind for me are "slow," "weak," and "soft."

Eric Wolford has been in charge of the offensive line since the beginning of last season. In 16 games, the Crimson Tide has allowed 34 sacks — including 12 in the first three games of this season.

Maybe the size of the offensive line isn't a strength, it's a problem. Alabama is having trouble staying in front of faster, more athletic pass rushers.

The only silver lining for the Crimson Tide's offensive line was late in the game. Saban held a meeting before the final drive, demanding the unit to keep the ball the rest of the way — it did exactly that to put the game away. Alabama was also without starting left guard Tyler Booker, who missed the game with back spasms.

It's only going to get harder. Allowing seven total sacks against Middle Tennessee and USF isn't going to get the job done during SEC play.

Ty Simpson Showed Promise in First Real Action

No. 15 finally got his opportunity on Saturday in Tampa after beginning the season as the third quarterback on the depth chart. With Tyler Buchner struggling, the Crimson Tide turned to Simpson — and he delivered.

After starting 0-for-4, Simpson completed his final five passes and led Alabama on its only two scoring drives. I don't think he really got a full opportunity, either. It seemed like every snap, Simpson was hit in the backfield before going through his first read. Simpson was on the bad end of all five sacks the Crimson Tide allowed and handed the ball off for the majority of his appearance.

But when given the opportunity, he stood in there and made some nice throws under pressure. He also punched in the game-sealing touchdown on a QB sneak.

It seems like it's down to Simpson and Jalen Milroe for the starting job. If Simpson can get more time in the pocket, I think he has the highest ceiling of the group as a passer.

And let's not forget, that was his first time ever in the game with the result still in question. He'll only get better with more opportunities.

Dallas Turner, Aggressive Defense Returned

Last weekend, it felt like Alabama was afraid to play aggressively against Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers. The Crimson Tide didn't record a single sack and didn't force any turnovers. Against USF, Alabama needed to show it could do those things — and it did.

After recording zero sacks in the first two games, Dallas Turner was a force again for the Crimson Tide. He got credited with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble in his return to south Florida. The secondary was at its best as well. The Bulls realized early that the passing game wasn't their friend, opting for an abundance of QB run plays.

Alabama held sturdy against the run as well, allowing just 3.8 yards per carry.

On a night where the Crimson Tide couldn't do much offensively, the defense needed to be at its best — or else USF would have flipped the college football world on its head. It did just that. The three points allowed came off an Alabama turnover.

Roydell Williams and Jase McClellan Ran Wild

With the Crimson Tide's passing offense in shambles — mostly because of poor offensive line play — Alabama needed a strong game running the football.

Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams had been pretty quiet so far this season — until Saturday. It was a tale of two halves — McClellan took the bulk of work in the first half while Williams got the Crimson Tide to the finish line.

The two friends combined for 203 yards on the ground and were a big reason Alabama was able to pull away in the end. Now, they just need to keep this momentum going into SEC play — when the Crimson Tide will desperately need a strong running game with lingering quarterback questions.

What's the New Alabama Standard?

After the game, Saban seemed surprisingly positive about his team's performance. I'll say it again — USF has won five games since the beginning of the 2020-21 season. And yet, Saban was "proud" of the team. How? It seems that Alabama is now just happy to win, regardless of the opponent. Winning 17-3 on the road in the SEC is acceptable — winning 17-3 against a bad non-Power 5 team isn't.

Maybe it's just Saban protecting his players. But he seemed genuinely OK with Saturday's performance, which to me is a problem.

But like Saban, fans can be relieved that the Crimson Tide did win. Because if it didn't...

See Also:

Uncertainty Still Lingers at QB for Alabama Heading into SEC Play

Alabama's Defense Stepped Up Big in Ugly Win Over USF

Alabama Offensive Line Falling Well Short of Lofty Expectations