Report: Tyler Buchner expected to start at quarterback for Alabama vs. USF

Alabama is making a change at quarterback for Saturday’s game against USF. Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner is now expected to start after Jalen Milroe started the first two games of the season, according to ESPN’s Chris Low.

Buchner joined the Alabama roster following spring practice after losing the quarterback competition to Sam Hartman in South Bend. He was Notre Dame’s starting quarterback last year, but suffered an injury early in the season that kept him out until the Gator Bowl.

In that game against South Carolina, Buchner completed 18 of 33 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns in the air along with two interceptions. He was also a key piece of the running game, totaling 61 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. The Fighting Irish defeated the Gamecocks 45-38 and Buchner won the Gator Bowl MVP award.

Buchner stuck with Notre Dame even after Hartman committed. They battled it out to be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback, and Hartman won the competition with a monster performance in the spring game. With the portal window open, Buchner decided to transfer and re-joined Tommy Rees — his offensive coordinator with the Fighting Irish.

Buchner made a brief appearance against Middle Tennessee State in relief of Milroe. He completed 3 of 9 passes for 27 yards in the air while also adding a nine-yard rush on the ground in that game.

Milroe looked strong against Middle Tennessee State in the season opener, but had an up-and-down performance against Texas last week in Tuscaloosa. He completed 14 of 27 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing two interceptions in the 34-24 loss to the Longhorns.

Since that game, Nick Saban has been outspoken about the offense’s need to improve. His criticism wasn’t just about the quarterback position, though. It was a unit-wide issue.

“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, aight?

“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.”