Alabama's Nick Saban Discusses Tyler Buchner, Ty Simpson's Performance vs. USF

It was another lackluster performance from Alabama's offense Saturday in the Crimson Tide's win over USF.

Head coach Nick Saban turned to Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson to take over at quarterback in place of Jalen Milroe, who threw two interceptions in Alabama's loss to Texas last weekend. Unfortunately for Alabama, neither signal-caller seemed to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, each with their fair amount of struggles.

Following the 17-3 victory, Saban was very coy about his plans for the position moving forward, even admitting that Milroe isn't out of the picture yet.

"I know you're going to ask about the quarterbacks," Saban told reporters. "We're going to evaluate the quarterbacks that played today and evaluate Jalen Milroe in terms of how he played and decide this week who gives us the best opportunity to be successful as an offensive team. And that's the way we'll go."

Buchner was initially named the starter but he didn't last very long as he completed just 5-of-14 passes for 34 yards against a USF defense that had its best performance of the season, racking up five sacks against the Crimson Tide.

A four-star freshman, Simpson was brought in during the first half and didn't find much more success, completing 5-of-9 passes for 73 yards and a rushing touchdown that put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter.

Saban told ESPN during the broadcast that the freshman had the best week of practice of any of the signal callers. He wasn't overly impressed by his performance, however.

"I thought he did OK," Saban said of Simpson's performance against USF. "Made a couple really good throws. Missed a couple big-play throws. ... I thought he played well, managed the game well."

It was a tough environment for Simpson to step into as Alabama continued to have the protection issues that plagued them against Texas, a game in which Milroe had 255 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions but was sacked five times.

Saban will be hoping to find an answer soon as the Crimson Tide enter SEC play next weekend against No. 17 Ole Miss.