Alabama Football vs. USF: EA Sports CFB 25 Game Simulation

We've done a lot of prognosticating this week at Bama Hammer about Alabama Football's matchup on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa against the South Florida Bulls, but all of that is just conjecture and talk. If we really want to get a feel for how the Crimson Tide will perform against USF, we have to consult the virtual world.

EA Sports released College Football 25 in July, the first iteration of the popular college football video game franchise since NCAA 14 came out 11 years prior. The game immediately sold a ton of copies, and I have spent far too many hours rebuilding dormant programs in Dynasty Mode and dominating everyone with the Crimson Tide.

But what does the video game think will happen when the Crimson Tide take the field against the Bulls on Saturday night? The results are not too far off from my own expectations. I simmed the game one time and one time only, using six-minute quarters. I didn't pick up the sticks for a single play, and just let the computer do all the work. Here's the results:

Final Score: Alabama 44, USF 6

Alabama rolled to a convincing victory in the sim, after a somewhat slow start. The Tide led just 7-0 after the first quarter, with the lone scoring play coming from a Jalen Milroe 4-yard touchdown pass to Washington transfer WR Germie Bernard.

Alabama's offense kicked into gear in the 2nd quarter, with three touchdown drives. Milroe threw two touchdown passes - a 23 yarder to Bernard and a 3-yarder to Kendrick Law. In between the touchdown passes, Jam Miller punched in a 1-yard touchdown run. The Tide's hopes of a shutout defensively were ruined with a late scoring drive by the Bulls, but Wommack's defense kept USF out of the endzone and forced a 26-yard FG to make the game a 28-3 Tide lead at haltime.

The second half saw Alabama's offense sputter a bit in USF territory. After a Jalen Milroe 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the Tide mustered just three field goals in the fourth quarter, with Graham Nicholson connecting on kicks of 41, 28, and 39 yards. USF's kicker John Cannon connected on a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter as well, but the game was well in hand for the Tide.

STATS:

Passing:
Jalen Milroe: 18/25, 216 Yards, 3 TD's, 1 INT

Rushing:
Justice Haynes: 20 carries, 198 yards, 0 TD's
Jam Miller: 19 carries, 62 yards, 1 TD
Jalen Milroe: 9 carries, 19 yards, 1 TD


Receiving:
Germie Bernard: 6 catches, 65 yards, 2 TD's
Ryan Williams: 4 catches, 78 yards
Kendrick Law: 4 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD
Jam Miller: 2 catches, 10 yards
Kobe Prentice: 1 catch, 14 yards
CJ Dippre: 1 catch, 12 yards

Total Yards:
Alabama: 547
USF: 239

Alabama ran the ball for 322 yards on 54 attempts, highlighted by a career day by sophomore RB Justice Haynes, who fell just short of 200 yards on the ground. I'll have to have a talk with A.I OC Nick Sheridan, as both Miller and Milroe scored one yard touchdowns - one of those carries should have gone to Haynes to reward him for running the ball up and down the field; it's a crime he wasn't rewarded with a touchdown.

Defense:

Kane Wommack would be proud of his team's virtual performance as Alabama held the USF offense to just 239 total yards. The Tide made USF one dimensional, allowing only 23 rushing yards on 13 attempts. They also forced two turnovers, one interception and one forced fumble. Domani Jackson got the interception, and the fumble was forced by Deontae Lawson and recovered by Qua Russaw.

Lawson led the team in tackles with six. The Tide defense sacked USF QB Byrum Brown twice, with Tim Keenan getting one by himself, and then Lawson and Malachi Moore sharing the other.

Graham Nicholson had a perfect day, hitting all five of his extra points and connecting on all three of his field goal attempts. James Burnip punted just one time for 44-yards. Cole Adams had a single punt return for 15-yards.

Overall, an anxiety free 44-6 win on Saturday would likely thrill Crimson Tide fans, so here's hoping that EA Sports' CFB 25 is on to something with this simulation.

More Alabama vs. USF Game Coverage: