Sloppy Tide pulls away late from USF, 42-16
If winning ugly is an art form, then Alabama just painted a masterpiece
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Alabama WR Kobe Prentice hauled in 2 catches for 24 yards and a TD against USF
On a night where the playing field at Bryant-Denny Stadium was named after the great Nick Saban, Alabama outscored a feisty South Florida squad 28-3 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Bulls 42-16 and improve to 2-0 on the young season. The final score is deceiving because for a second straight year, the Tide struggled mightily with the Bulls out of the American Athletic Conference. Last season, Bama slugged its way to a 17-3 victory over South Florida in Tampa, and through three quarters, this year’s contest looked similar to the 2023 edition. Entering the 4th quarter, Alabama led 14-13 largely due to self-inflicted wounds.
Penalties plagued last year’s Tide team, and on Saturday night, a similar script was played out. Alabama’s offensive line alone was flagged a total of 8 times for 60 yards. For a second straight week, sophomore tackle Kayden Proctor was sidelined with an injury and a makeshift line struggled all evening. Fill-ins Geno VanDemark and freshman Wilkin Fornby had tough evenings as they were beaten all night. Unlike last week’s 600 yard showing against Western Kentucky, the Tide offense struggled for three and a half quarters. Holding penalties called back two touchdowns in the first half, quarterback Jalen Milroe took a pounding and could not hit the long ball, and the running game found yards difficult to gain as an aggressive Bulls defense more than held their own. In addition, Alabama fumbled the ball away three times in the second half. Meanwhile, Bama’s defense played well and as the Tide offense struggled, were able to keep the Tide in the game by limiting the explosive Bulls to a total of 309 yards. Tide punter James Burnip kept the Bulls from flipping the field as he punted seven times for an average of 42.9 yards.
South Florida’s fast-paced offense had success early, as the Bulls took the opening possession 60 yards on 13 plays, yet the drive stalled at the Tide 15-yard line and John Cannon hit the first of his three field goals to give the Bulls their only lead of the evening, 3-0. Both teams would go three-and-out before Milroe capped off a 10 play, 65-yard drive with the first of his two rushing touchdowns, bringing it in from 10 yards out to put the Tide ahead 7-3. The teams would exchange two punts each before South Florida quarterback Byrun Brown, who had a terrific day on the ground gaining 108 yards on 23 carries, led a 9 play, 50-yard drive that ended with another short Cannon field goal of 25 yards to cut the Tide lead to 7-6 with 9:45 left in the second quarter. Milroe would lead the Tide on an 11 play, 75-yard touchdown drive by scoring from 5 yards out to give Bama a 14-6 lead at halftime.
Bama got off to a rough start as Kendrick Law fumbled the kickoff after an impressive 52-yard return that gave the ball to the Bulls on the Tide 49. The drive would stall at the Bama 35-yard line and Cannon missed from 53 yards out, yet Bama’s offensive struggles would continue as their next two possessions resulted in a three-and-out and an uncharacteristic fumble from back Jam Miller. The Bulls took advantage of the turnover and drove 39 yards in 5 plays to score their only touchdown of the evening, a two-yard run by Ta’Ron Keith that cut the Tide lead to one at the 9:35 mark of the third quarter. The teams would exchange two punts each before Bama drove 51 yards on 11 plays only to cough up the ball for the third time on the USF 2-yard line with 13:44 remaining in the game. The Tide defense dug in and forced a three-and-out and Alabama would take advantage of a short field and drove 34 yards in 4 plays when Milroe, facing pressure, stepped up in the pocket on a third and 6 and hit Kobe Prentice from 16 yards out to stretch the lead to 21-13. The Bulls kept things interesting by responding with an impressive 8 play, 71-yard drive that stalled at the Tide 4 yard line. Cannon hit his third field goal of the evening to make it a one possession game with 6:45 remaining in the contest. The Tide would then score 21 straight points, which included a 43-yard pass from Milroe to freshman sensation Ryan Williams, a 56 yard scamper for six by Jam Miller, and a 29 yard touchdown run from Justice Haynes to make the final score 42-16. On the day, Milroe would finish 16-26 for 194 yards and 2 touchdowns. Jam Miller would lead all rushers with 140 yards on 15 carries and Ryan Williams’ 4 catches for 68 yards would lead all Tide receivers. For the Bulls, Brown was impressive on the ground, frustrating the Tide for 108 yards on 23 carries, but struggled through the air, completing 15 of 25 passes for only 103 yards. Alabama would end up committing a staggering 13 penalties for 120 yards while the Bulls were also penalized a lot, committing 11 for 92 yards.
Even though Alabama played a sloppy game, a lot of credit needs to go to South Florida. For three quarters, they pushed the Tide around on both lines of scrimmage and were in position in the fourth quarter to win the game. They are going to win plenty of games this year. Take away the final seven minutes of the game and Alabama looked incredibly vulnerable, especially on the offensive line. Around the ten-minute mark, the Tide did replace Fornsby with starter Elijah Pritchett, who was sitting due to getting dinged up against Western Kentucky, and with him in the game, Alabama reeled off 28 straight points. Kaydn Proctor is expected to return for next week’s tussle at Wisconsin, which hopefully will shore things up on the line. Tide receivers failed to gain separation for most of the night against the Bulls’ secondary, and Milroe was not sharp on his throws downfield. Eventually, the Tide’s talent turned out to be the difference in this one, however if the Tide shows up playing similar ball against the likes of Georgia, Tennessee, and even Wisconsin next week, the result could be very different.
There is a lot of work to do before next Saturday, as the road to the College Football Playoffs for the Tide starts in earnest in Madison.
