Tyler Booker, Nick Sheridan 'Uplifting' Wilkin Formby After South Florida Performance

The Alabama co-captain and offensive coordinator each asserted that the positives and negatives from the offensive line are a full front-five effort.

Alabama Quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) runs in a touchdown against University of South Florida at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Sep 7, 2024. / Photo by Crimson Tide Photos / UA Athletics

There were plenty of angles to dissect from Alabama's 42-16 victory over South Florida this past Saturday, but despite the final score, the subpar performance from the Crimson Tide's offensive line really stood out.

Alabama entered the fourth quarter with just a 14-13 lead. Offensive line penalties were harming the Tide as the starting front five finished the game with nine penalties. Four of which came at the hands of right tackle Wilkin Formby, who started for the second time in his Crimson Tide career.

It's very easy to lose a ton of confidence in this scenario, but on Monday morning, Alabama left guard Tyler Booker, who started at left tackle against USF due to a previous injury to Kadyn Proctor, spoke on The Next Round about Formby, stating that he, along with the rest of unit encouraged him to keep moving forward throughout the night.

"I just told him to keep pushing," Booker said. "There's nothing you can do about it now except learn. Right now, Wilkin has really been in the film room just going over some of the things that went wrong and making sure he doesn't make some of the same mistakes again. We all believe in Wilkin and he wouldn't be out there starting if we didn't believe in him. We just have to continue to go 1-0. What I mean by that is don't let the previous rep, don't let the previous game affect what happens going into this next week."

Booker, who is one of Alabama's four captains, explained that he's seen this scenario before, including when the aforementioned Proctor earned a starting tackle job last season as a highly-touted freshman.

"The biggest thing I felt helped Kadyn the most was just letting him know that we believe in him," Booker said. "At no point did we say 'You're not cutting it, you're not the guy, get out.' That would've really diminished his confidence. Instead of doing that, we uplifted him and told him we've been there before."

Booker went further into this by naming current NFL rookies JC Latham and Darrian Dalcourt as players who also struggled early in their first year starting on the Crimson Tide front five.

"We just really put belief into them and we're doing the same thing with Wilkin now. I'm very excited to see how he responds this weekend and the rest of the season."

During Monday afternoon's press conference, Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan asserted that the offensive line as a whole could improve on a few things, not just Formby.

"Wilkin cares a whole bunch and wants to be as good as he possibly could be...It goes back to footwork, eye discipline, simple things to make sure that you're in the right position to make the play the right way, within the rules," Sheridan said. "I would say to the whole group is making sure we're detailing the right details so we can execute simple football well. You're a foot off or an inch off or the wrong hand placement away from not getting called for a penalty. That's what we're focusing on, not just with Wilkin but the whole group."

Booker and Sheridan are optimistic about the offensive line ahead of the upcoming away game against Wisconsin as Formby and the front five continue to progress throughout the week. Saturday's game at Camp Randall Stadium will be DeBoer's first road test with the Crimson Tide.