Pete Thamel explains why Tyler Buchner didn't win Alabama job immediately

Alabama will boast a fresh face behind center this Saturday. Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner is expected to start for the Crimson Tide at quarterback. On Friday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel discussed the development on “College Football Live.”

“Tyler Buchner came after spring and he followed his offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees,” Thamel said. “One of his struggles and why he didn’t win the job immediately was that even though Tommy Rees came, he didn’t bring his system. When you work for Nick Saban, you run Nick Saban’s offense even though you come in from the outside.

“Tyler had to come in and learn an entire new system. Toward the end of camp, he really started to play better,” Thamel said. “He started last year as Notre Dame starter but was injured in their loss to Marshall in Week Two. He came back for the bowl game and threw three touchdowns and three interceptions when they won the Gator Bowl.”

Tyler Buchner boasts experience

Buchner will replace Jalen Milroe, who started in Alabama’s first two contests, including its loss 34-24 loss to Texas on Saturday. In two starts, Milroe recorded 449 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions on a 60% completion percentage.

While these numbers might cut it at other programs, they won’t work at Alabama. With Buchner’s resumé, the Crimson Tide hopes to make a splash in Week 3. In two seasons at Notre Dame, Buchner amassed 949 passing yards along with 459 rushing yards.

In total, Buchner produced 13 touchdowns for the Fighting Irish. Nonetheless, he also threw eight interceptions while in South Bend. Although Buchner is expected to start on Saturday, he won’t necessarily be the only man behind center.

The QB battle isn’t over quite yet

“We will see Tyler Buckner start that game and I think we probably see multiple quarterbacks,” Thamel said.

Saban never blamed Milroe for Alabama’s loss to Texas. However, he knows his team needs change.

“The issue in the game was — I think we only got sacked once on the blitz. And the back cut the linebacker and he got up and still sacked the quarterback. The other issues were really, basically, four-man rush, three-man rush,” Saban said during his Wednesday press conference. “So I think that he has done okay. I think that what we need to do as an offense is everybody’s got to pay more attention to detail. We can’t give bird and rabbits so the other team knows when we’re passing so they can tee off, right?

“All these little things sort of add up to create a disadvantage for you if you don’t get them fixed. These are all things that our players need to understand and need to do so we can protect better and the quarterback can have a better chance to operate.”

Watch Buchner make his first start for the Crimson Tide as Alabama takes on South Florida at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.