Positives Along the Offensive Line Against South Florida

The offensive line against South Florida struggled, point blank.

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An injury to Kadyn Proctor during pregame warmups against Western Kentucky has thrown the Alabama offensive line into a Lazy Susan of starters.

Last week, Elijah Pritchett started in Proctor's place but struggled at left tackle. Wilkin Formby also struggled last week against Western Kentucky. This led to the decision to shuffle the Alabama starting lineup along the offensive line.

Against South Florida, Alabama's starting offensive line looked like this:

LT: Tyler Booker
LG: Geno VanDeMark
C: Parker Brailsford
RG: Jaeden Roberts
RT: Wilkin Formby

This lineup also struggled. Alabama had eight total penalties along the offensive line with seven accepted. Three sacks were given up, six tackles for loss were given, six holding penalties, two false starts, and one block in the back wiped 173 yards of offense and two touchdowns off the board.

Yet all hope is not lost. Alabama did not have a penalty along the offensive line in the fourth quarter. As a matter of fact, the last penalty on Alabama's offensive line came just nine seconds into the second half.

Taking a slim one-point lead into the fourth quarter, Alabama challenged its offensive line to step up and make the plays needed to put away an inferior opponent. The Crimson Tide answered the challenge, with 10 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns to ease the minds of Crimson Tide fans as Alabama won 42-16.

Most of the fourth-quarter success came when Alabama made a switch along the offensive line: Elijah Pritchett came in for Wolkin Formby on the last three drives of the game. Alabama scored three touchdowns on the 13 drives before the switch. Alabama scored three consecutive touchdowns on the next three drives after the switch.

Why wasn't Pritchett playing before then?

Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer mentioned postgame that Pritchett was dealing with a bit of an injury, "He was ready to go. He could have started the game. We were just trying to hold on as long as possible." "We're gonna be in better shape offensive line-wise going into next week."

Pritchett may have earned a chance to start at right tackle against Wisconsin next week. Alabama is also hoping left tackle Kadyn Proctor will be healthy enough to play next week.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.