Alabama Football: 3 Bold Predictions for Tide's matchup with USF

These bold predictions will help Alabama Football avoid the sloppy performance that plagued them last season against USF in Tampa.
Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

Alabama Football kicks off week two of the Kalen DeBoer era as they welcome the USF Bulls from the American Athletic Conference into Tuscaloosa on Saturday night. The University will be honoring legendary head coach Nick Saban by dedicating the field to him at halftime of the game, and will try to avoid honoring him by repeating the team's performance against South Florida in Tampa last season.

After a disappointing week two loss to Texas at home last season, Alabama faced an identity crisis as they faced the Bulls on a rain-soaked afternoon that ultimately led to a lengthy weather delay and a game most Alabama fans would rather never see the tape of again.

As frustrating as that game was a year ago, it proved to be the turning point of the 2023 season. Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees were still looking for a QB to run the offense the way they wanted it to be run, and handed the reigns to Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner. Buchner struggled enough that he ultimately went back to Notre Dame and signed up to play lacrosse. Ty Simpson relieved Buchner, and while he flashed some potential and ultimately helped the Tide to a listless 17-3 victory, it was obvious that Simpson was not ready for the moment.

That game proved to everyone that Alabama's best shot at a winner was riding with Milroe and tailoring the offense more to his strengths. Milroe delivered, Alabama ran the table the rest of the regular season, and then dethroned Georgia in the SEC Championship Game before losing a heartbreaker in overtime to Michigan in the CFP Semifinals.

Don't expect this matchup with the Bulls to produce similar clarity or to be nearly as tense. South Florida has a good football team, but I expect the Crimson Tide to fully exorcize the demons from a year ago.

Here's three bold predictions for Alabama's matchup with USF:

3. Alabama Will Score a Non-Offensive Touchdown

Alabama's new Swarm defense pitched a shutout and forced two turnovers last week against Western Kentucky. But, new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack wasn't fully satisfied with the defensive performance, mainly due to the Tide's inability to return either pick for a touchdown. Michigan transfer Keon Sabb picked off both passes in the first half, and returned the ball 64-yards on the 2nd interception before being pushed out of bounds. Both interceptions led to touchdowns by the Tide offense, but it's clear Wommack would prefer his defense go ahead and put the ball into the endzone themselves.

Bulls junior QB Byrum Brown had a good year in 2023, and his dual-threat capabilities can cause problems for the Alabama defense. In 13 starts last season, though, Brown did throw 11 interceptions. He's prone to take some risks forcing throws, and he'll have no choice but to do so as the game progresses on Saturday night and USF finds themselves further and further behind.

While I do think it will ultimately be a pick-six for the Tide's first non-offensive touchdown of the '24 season, I wouldn't discount the possibility that Cole Adams takes a kickoff or punt back for a touchdown, either. DeBoer has been very complimentery of the redshirt freshman receiver, and seems to expect Adams to make big plays for the Crimson Tide this season.

2. Ryan Williams finds the endzone, again

The crown jewel of Alabama's 2024 recruiting class and the player Kalen DeBoer absolutely, 100% had to hang on to was Saraland's Ryan Williams. Williams will play his entire freshman season as a 17-year-old after reclassifying. It took him all of one game in a Crimson Tide uniform before making a huge impact and showing just how good he has the potential to be (and how good he already is).

Williams had two touches in last week's game against Western Kentucky, and he promptly found the endzone both times. He streaked wide open down the right sideline in the first quarter and hauled in a Milroe bomb and took it the rest of the way for an 84-yard touchdown. Late in the 2nd quarter with the Tide working in two-minute offense, Williams snagged a dart from Milroe over the middle, made a quick cut, shook off a tackle, and waltzed the endzone for the second time. 2 catches. 139 yards. 2 touchdowns. That'll do.

So what does the freshman phenom have in store for an encore? While it's probably unrealistic to expect Williams to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball, I've yet to see a play where he doesn't, so until that happens I'm going to operate under the assumption that the Deuce will indeed remain loose. Williams scores another long touchdown early in the game, increasing the hype for a freshman beyond Julio Jones-levels.

1. Jalen Milroe shines, eclipses 400-yards of total offense

You have to figure this is a game Jalen Milroe has had circled on his calendar. The star QB was benched for this game last year, and watched his teammates pull out a struggle win over an inferior opponent from the sideline. He's going to have a point to prove, and I expect him to go out and put together his best statistical performance of his career thus far.

As good as Milroe was last season, he never eclipsed 400-yards of offense in a single game. He's come close, putting up 374-yards against LSU and 366 against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, but hasn't gotten over that plateau. Expect that to change on Saturday night as he throws for 300+ yards and gets right at 100-yards rushing with a few well-timed scrambles netting big plays for the Tide offense.

When the dust settles, Alabama beats USF big thanks to a huge game from Milroe that puts him firmly in the Heisman Trophy discussion as the Tide prepares to head to Madison for their first real test of the season against Wisconsin next weekend.

Jalen Milroe won't be CFB's leading passer, but it won't matter. dark. Next. Jalen Milroe Leading Passer