Nick Saban addresses decision to go with Ty Simpson in second half

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson led the Crimson Tide offense out onto the field to start the second half against South Florida. Simpson entered the game midway through the second quarter to replace Tyler Buchner, who started the game but struggled early on.

The Alabama quarterbacks combined to go 5-of-17 (29%) for just 34 yards in the first half as the game was tied at 3 heading into halftime. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban joined ESPN for a sideline interview before the start of the third quarter, where he explained the decision to go with Simpson.

“We said we wanted to see if we had a quarterback that could play winning football,” Saban said. “Thought we struggled a little bit. Maybe it was the rain. I don’t know. Ty was the guy that practiced the best this week as a backup player, so he’s got a chance to play.”

Alabama managed to score its only points of the first half after it recovered a fumble and took over at the South Florida 25-yard line. Even then, the offense failed to come up with a first down and settled for a field goal to tie the game up.

The Crimson Tide punted on every other drive in the opening half and also fumbled once as they finished with just 118 total yards.

“They’re stunting and blitzing all the time,” Saban said. “We’re not doing a very good job of picking it up, run or pass. They’re giving us too many negative plays. We don’t have consistency and execution, so we’ve just got to get that right.”

So far it seems Alabama has decided to lean heavily on its rushing game in the second half. Rather than turning back to a struggling passing attack, the Crimson Tide have passed only three times. They scored their first touchdown of the afternoon as Roydell Williams punched it in from the goal line to give them a 10-3 lead.

Alabama entered the year with a quarterback battle on its hands and ultimately awarded the job to Jalen Milroe. He led the Crimson Tide to a dominant 56-7 victory against Middle Tennessee in the season opener. However, they dropped the following game 34-24 to Texas as Milroe was sacked five times and threw a pair of interceptions.

That led to the Crimson Tide opting to start Buchner in his place in Week 3. However, after his rough start to the game, Simpson got his chance to show what he can do. Even if Alabama hangs on to win this game, the quarterback position will continue to be a question as SEC play inches closer.