Alabama football's offensive performance against Oklahoma on Saturday was an abject disaster. It was the most pitiful offensive output in 20 years, sparking reminders of Marc Guillon against South Carolina in 2004. That was the last time I can remember an Alabama offense looking so inept.
That kind of performance, even this late in the season, has to necessitate changes. A staff known for their offensive acumen cannot be left befuddled and without answers.
A lot of Alabama fans want the change to be at quarterback. The calls for Ty Simpson to start over Jalen Milroe are as loud now as they've ever been. That's not going to happen. This staff has never shown the confidence in Simpson that the fanbase has. If there was any thought he could be a better alternative option than Milroe, we would have seen him against Oklahoma after Milroe's back-to-back interceptions. We probably would have seen him a few weeks ago in Knoxville, too.
For better or worse, this is Milroe's team. He deserves plenty of blame, but so does the coaching staff for putting the entire offense on his back. When you build the whole offense around one player, if that player has a less-than-stellar day, then your offense is going to struggle. Kalen DeBoer and Nick Sheridan have not shown an ability to adapt in-game.
The first sign of trouble in that regard was against Georgia. They came in with a brilliant gameplan and then as soon as Georgia's defense adjusted, the Tide offense was drawing dead until late in the fourth quarter when Ryan Williams made a spectacular play.
They adjusted over the bye week to more designed Milroe runs, and seemed to figure that was going to carry them the rest of the way. When Oklahoma took that away, they were clueless as to what to do.
It didn't help that the offensive line struggled mightily, particulary at right tackle. If there's an obvious change that needs to happen, it's likely that right tackle Elijah Pritchett needs to be replaced in favor of Wilkin Formby.
According to @PFF_College, Alabama offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett has registered a pass-blocking grade below 41.0 in five of his last seven games.
— Tony Tsoukalas (@Tony_Tsoukalas) November 25, 2024
Vanderbilt — 36.7
Tennessee — 17.3
LSU — 34.2
Mercer — 40.7
Oklahoma — 38.4 pic.twitter.com/nZoDZWsMYU
It's not a coincidence that three of Pritchett's worst performances of the season all happened in losses. His game against Tennessee was as bad as it gets. He wasn't much better in Norman.
Formby has had his own struggles. He had a brutal game against South Florida in Week 2 before being replaced by Pritchett. But a lot of that was due to mental errors and Formby getting into his own head after a couple of penalties, especially the blown holding call on Milroe's long touchdown run late in the second quarter.
Alabama has to try something. Pritchett is a talented player, but if that's the performance level they are going to get from him, then it's not like Formby can be much worse.
It makes sense to give Formby another look in the Iron Bowl. If he fails, too, then it increases the sense of urgency to find a portal tackle this offseason.