Urban Meyer believes Alabama — and more specifically, the quarterback position manned by Jalen Milroe — needs a “reset” after a Week 2 34-24 loss to Texas on September 9 at Bryant-Denny Stadium; sharing the opinion on the September 13 edition of Urban’s Take with Tim May.
“I watched that game,” Meyer prefaced before saying, “What a talented player, but just he struggles consistently throwing the ball. There were guys open and, and (he was) unable to hit him. I can’t remember who they play this week, but any time you lose a game, especially at places like Ohio State or Alabama, you gotta reset everything. It’s unfortunate. It’s just the way it is. Life in the big city. You lose a game and everything’s got to be re-checked. You know, what happened?”
According to On3’s Peter Warren, Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner and second-year Ty Simpson could push for the starting job with the Crimson Tide playing four-touchdown underdog USF.
“There are other quarterbacks in the Alabama system, Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson, who pushed for the starting job in camp who may be next in line if Milroe struggles again soon,” Warren prefaced before saying, “The Crimson Tide have some time to readjust with a game versus USF this week but a matchup with a ranked Ole Miss team looks in the distance.”
Urban Meyer Equally Bearish on Alabama’s Defense
Meyer didn’t let Kevin Steele’s Alabama defense off the hook after taking down Tommy Rees’ Crimson Tide offensive attack; claiming that he couldn’t believe how Texas’ skill position players were able to get behind Alabama’s defenders and run the ball right at them to great success.
“You’re talking about their quarterback, there are some issues there, but I’ll tell you that defense, Texas ran through that defense and that’s Alabama defense,” Meyer said. “I was watching that going, my gosh. They’re behind them. They’re running the ball at them. You know how I feel about Texas. They got to reset everything in Alabama right now.”
FanNation’s Austin Hannon felt that the Crimson Tide defense quit in the fourth quarter.
“After giving the ball back to the Longhorns down by 10, it looked like Alabama had already quit,” Hannon wrote. “Instead of digging deep one last time and getting the offense back on the field, Alabama allowed Texas to run almost half of the fourth quarter clock off.”
Alabama ‘Failed to Adequately Stock’ QB Room: Analyst
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd believes that Alabama “failed to adequately stock” the Crimson Tide quarterback room in the offseason; leading to the Week 2 loss in Tuscaloosa.
“Alabama was exposed against Texas mostly because Saban had inexplicably failed to adequately stock the quarterback room,” Dodd wrote. “There is no replacement remotely close to [former QB Bryce] Young. Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner was brought in to add depth (at worst) or perhaps take over the job (at best).”
Dodd feels that Alabama would’ve won with Miami’s Tyler Buchner, an offseason transfer portal target, under center instead.
“It’s safe to assume Alabama scoured the transfer portal for a QB but failed to land a bigger fish,” Dodd wrote. “Stick Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke in crimson and Bama likely wins Saturday night. Van Dyke’s five touchdown passes Saturday were the most against Texas A&M in at least 20 years.”
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Urban Meyer Calls for ‘Reset’ for Alabama QB Jalen Milroe After Texas Loss