The Alabama Crimson Tide made news this week as coach Nick Saban named Tyler Buchner, not Jalen Milroe, as his starter for the team’s third game of the season against the South Florida Bulls.
While Milroe’s quarterback play has left a lot to be desired, especially in the team’s 34-24 loss to Texas, the Longhorns may very well be a College Football Playoff team this season. At the same time, it’s interesting to see Saban already make a switch at the position after naming Milroe as his starter as the Crimson Tide exited fall camp and looked to get ready for the season.
Someone who’s a bit familiar with SEC quarterback play, Tim Tebow, commented on Alabama’s decision to bench Milroe in favor of Buchner during a recent appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.
“I think when you look at last week’s game, there are some plays that Jalen really wants back, that he made some mistakes in that game that really hurt them. But there was also a lot of other areas that Alabama had weaknesses,” Tebow said, via On3. “Their offensive line did not perform. They had pressure on him the entire day. I don’t think it’s fair to Jalen to put this all on him. It’s on a lot of areas at Alabama and I think it’s the—from the coaching staff to the physicality to the playmakers to also some of it’s on Jalen, it goes all the way around.”
Tebow thinks that Alabama’s problems go beyond just Milroe and doesn’t seem like he necessarily agrees with the benching.
“Now we don’t get to see all the practices, and so there could be a lot going on there. But when you had all the support after Week 1 and everybody’s saying what a great job and the support of his teammates, and then one week that doesn’t go your way — but this is what I think is so important: Yes, he did not perform up to his ability but you could say that about a lot of the players at Alabama,” Tebow said. “You could say that about the offensive and defensive line. And I think I just really want to be fair, let’s not put this all on Jalen. It’s on the entire team.”
We’ll have to see if Buchner is what this Alabama team needs to get going.
[The Paul Finebaum Show via On3]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.