Alabama’s Nick Saban explains decision to bench Tyler Buchner for Ty Simpson vs. USF

Alabama coach Nick Saban benched Tyler Buchner for Ty Simpson during the first half of Saturday’s game in Tampa against South Florida.

At halftime, Saban explained why he made the decision to sit Buchner, who was making his first career start for Alabama after replacing Jalen Milroe.

“We said we wanted to see if we had a quarterback that could play winning football and thought we struggled a little bit,” Saban said of the first half. “Maybe it was the rain. I don’t know. Ty was the guy that practiced the best this week as a backup player, so he has a chance to play.”

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The first half was delayed an hour due to a lightning delay, but the Crimson Tide’s performance was equally troubling before and after the weather stopped play.

Buchner, who started, was 5 of 14 for 34 yards, while Simpson was 0 of 3 in limited action.

“They are stunting and blitzing all the time,” Saban said of USF. “We’re not doing a very good job of picking it up, run or pass. They are giving us too many negative plays, so we don’t have any consistency or execution. We have to do that right.”

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Alabama managed just 111 total yards and eight first downs in the first half, sparking social media to ignite with criticism of the Tide.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.