South Florida holds the unique distinction of being the only team to make a repeat appearance on Alabama’s 2024 schedule that didn’t have to face QB Jalen Milroe in 2023.
Alabama’s listless 17-3 victory over South Florida in terrible weather in Tampa last year served one very important purpose: It set the quarterback depth chart, because Tyler Buchner’s flaws were exposed in that game and Ty Simpson, although he improved over the course of the game (and used that game to sort of launch his season at large), showed that Bama’s coaches had initially gotten things right when they selected Milroe as the starter.
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Projected Depth Chart for Alabama vs. South Florida
In 2024, Alabama gets South Florida in Tuscaloosa, and it’s essentially the same set of Bulls that Bama faced last year: 19 returning starters, including dynamic QB Byrum Brown, and a roster that was augmented by transfers in a smart, calculated way, which has allowed USF to build intelligently and not be caught in the same kind of tempest that is affecting programs like Florida State.
OFFENSE
South Florida’s offense is heavily RPO-based and features a ton of action off the quarterback. The Bulls ended up with the 17th-ranked offense in the country in 2023 and that was after nearly laying a goose egg against Alabama. South Florida was 32nd in rushing offense and 31st in passing offense, and many of the same players now return. There will be tempo, there will be trickery in the backfield and the Bulls have the speed to leverage points. Alabama’s offense in Week 1 under Kalen DeBoer was a mixture of fast-hitting plays and … other fast-hitting plays. Alabama appears to be getting back to Steve Sarkisian-era concepts of stretching the field in multiple ways simultaneously, and showed no real weaknesses against Western Kentucky.
QUARTERBACKS
Byrum Brown had a poor day passing against Alabama last year, going 14-of-28 for just 87 yards and 1 interception. Brown’s downfield arm ability is perhaps his weakest asset. But Brown was much more effective as a runner, amassing 92 yards on 23 carries (4.0 avg.). Alabama stuck to a strategy of containment with Brown in 2023 and it worked perfectly. For the season, Brown broke the 3,000-yard barrier (3,292 yards total) and also ran for 809 yards and 11 touchdowns. On the flip side, while he threw for 26 touchdowns, he also launched 11 interceptions. His backup is a junior transfer from Coastal Carolina, Bryce Archie.
Alabama will start Jalen Milroe this time, and with South Florida having no frame of reference for him yet, this represents a big edge to Bama that South Florida will have to overcome. Milroe is in the thick of the Heisman Trophy race at the moment as is coming off one of, if not the absolute best performances he’s had in crimson and white. Ty Simpson has also improved significantly since playing the second half against South Florida last year and leading Alabama to victory. Brown can be dangerous if allowed to roam freely, but Alabama has the tape on how to prevent it. Advantage: Alabama
RUNNING BACKS
If there was a place South Florida needed an upgrade from last year, it’s here, because although Nay’Quan Wright ran for roughly 800 yards on the season, he only averaged 4.4 yards per carry and wasn’t the dynamic contributor the Bulls were expecting. For 2024, Wright returns, but Kelley Joiner got a lot of the work in the opener and put up better results. Both are around 5’9”, 200 so size on interior runs could be an issue. Bowling Green transfer Ta’Ron Keith provides further depth. Like last year, Byrum Brown is the guy to watch; he averaged 9.3 yards per carry against Bethune-Cookman and scored a touchdown. Alabama’s new 1-2 punch of Jam Miller and Justice Haynes did just what most fans expected them to do against Western Kentucky, combining for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries (17.3 avg.). Like South Florida, Bama expects to get good production on the ground from its quarterback. Miller and Haynes don’t have as much experience as Wright and Joiner do for South Florida, but the difference in explosiveness is massive. Advantage: Alabama
WIDE RECEIVERS
Both teams are trying to replace a big chunk of their wide receiver production from 2023. In the opener, Alabama looked like it was closer to having those plans figured out. Ryan Williams jumped off the page to anyone watching, and if he stays healthy he will give Alabama the deep threat it has lacked since pre-injury Jameson Williams. Kendrick Law, Kobe Prentice, Germie Bernard, Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and Cole Adams are the primary names for Bama right now at receiver along with Ryan Williams, but Alabama also used a half-dozen tight ends against Western Kentucky, led primarily by C.J. Dippre, Robbie Ouzts, Josh Cuevas and Danny Lewis Jr.
South Florida has turned to Purdue transfer Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen and Minnesota transfer Michael Brown-Stephens, while slot receiver Sean Atkins is the only holdover playing a key role. Tight end Weston Wolff was supplanted as starter by Cincinnati transfer Payten Singletary but neither caught a pass in the opener. Yaseen has good size at 6’2”, 205 and caught 5 passes in his USF debut.
Assuming Williams continues to develop for Alabama, and Bernard settles into his new role, Alabama holds a clear edge here made even clearer by the advantage at tight end. Advantage: Alabama
OFFENSIVE LINE
Alabama will be without LT Kadyn Proctor again for this game, the result of one of the strangest injuries in recent Crimson Tide history. Proctor fell during warm-ups for Western Kentucky and injured a shoulder. Elijah Pritchett had to take over on the fly, and after a first quarter that was rough at times, Pritchett settled into the role nicely and finished the game playing well given the circumstances. The rest of the Bama line – center Parker Brailsford, guards Tyler Booker and Jaeden Roberts and right tackle Wilkin Formby – were sharp all night in the opener. Formby in particular gave fans something to talk about, playing well above his freshman status.
South Florida had an offensive line even more problematic than Alabama’s in 2023. The Bulls ranked 115th in sacks allowed and 120th in tackles for loss allowed. The Bulls shuffled the lineups several times in spring and fall camps and ended up with R.J. Perry and Derek Bowman returning to their starting tackle spots, but the middle of the line was completely rebuilt. Mike Lofton is the new center, and Cole Best emerged in fall as the new left guard. The right guard is Colorado transfer Jack Wilty, who supplanted returning starter Zane Herring. Only Best started his career inside the USF program. Advantage: Alabama
DEFENSE
South Florida’s defense is pretty much a 4-2-5 alignment even though the Bulls designate one of the ends as an “Edge.” In 2023, rush defense was an acceptable 47th, but the Bulls had so much trouble stopping teams through the air (129th in raw pass defense, 95th in pass efficiency defense) that they fell to 115th in total defense. There has been some reconfiguration of the defensive front, as the Bulls want to get bigger and stop getting pushed around. Bama’s initial foray into the 4-2-5 Swarm defense appeared to be working as intended against Western Kentucky, especially in the backend of the defense, which made more big plays. Alabama was fairly vanilla in its blitz work against the Hilltoppers, and don’t expect much to be different this week, as containing Byrum Brown is of utmost importance.
DEFENSIVE LINE
South Florida suffered from a lack of size at defensive end at times last year, and to that end the Bulls brought in Decarius Hawthorne from Central Florida. Hawthorne is listed at 6’2”, 290, but will play end as much as he’ll play tackle. Having Hawthorne’s girth on the edge will allow the Bulls to reposition Michael Williams II, Rico Watson III and D.J. Harris as needed. Those players weigh in the 230-240 range and are suited for the Edge/rush end position, but not necessarily the weakside end. Tackles Doug Blue-Eli and Rashad Cheney return from a year ago, now joined by Wake Forest transfer Bernard Gooden. The Bulls struggled to affect quarterbacks last year, ranking 95th in sacks, but did far better against running teams, finishing 7th in tackles for loss.
Alabama looked solid in the opener, and any questions as to how starting 2023 nosetackle Tim Keenan would handle being moved to a one-gap DT spot were answered. Alabama showed good depth, with Tim Smith, James Smith, Damon Payne Jr. and Jeheim Oatis all contributing. Alabama also showed nice aggressiveness off the edge with Qua Russaw, Quandarrius Robinson, Jah-Marien Latham and L.T. Overton. Alabama may still be feeling its way a bit, but South Florida’s results from a year ago are a bigger issue. Advantage: Alabama
LINEBACKERS
This is veteran-against-veteran stuff, but it won’t be quite as juicy of a matchup due to a key injury for the Bulls. Seniors Mac Harris and Jhalyn Shuler were set to return for South Florida, but Shuler, arguably USF’s best defensive player overall, was injured in the opener and will miss this game.
For Alabama, juniors Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell man the position. South Florida also has seniors at the second-team level in D.J. Gordon IV and Jamie Pettway, which gives them a bit of a leg up in experience over Alabama, which is using a freshman (Justin Okoronkwo) and Justin Jefferson, who played sparingly as a junior. With Shuler out, look for freshman Rodney Hill to get some work. Campbell had a significantly good performance in Bama’s opener, used in ways on the outside of the formation that ought to make him a more dangerous asset.
Alabama’s edge players hold a significant advantage over those for USF, and with Shuler out, it just tilts the scales even more. Advantage: Alabama
DEFENSIVE BACKS
This was at times the best and worst of USF’s 2023 season. The Bulls were turnover-forcing machines, finishing in the top 20 in both interceptions and fumbles forced. But while the big plays were there, getting the little things right wasn’t. To that end, all three returning starters – CB Aamaris Brown and safeties Jaelen Stokes and Caqavouis Berryhill – find themselves as reserves to start the 2024 season. Tavin Ward moves from a reserve corner spot to being a starter at safety, flanked by Tawfiq Byard, a freshman. Transfers hold down both cornerback spots and the nickel position: Da’Shawn Rucker (Tennessee), Brent Austin (James Madison) and Kajuan Banks (South Carolina), respectively.
Alabama’s opener saw the Tide rotate five cornerbacks within the first two drives, and all figure to play in this one. Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown will start, with DaShawn Jones, Jaylen Mbakwe and Zavier Mincey providing depth. Malachi Moore and Keon Sabb will start at the high safety spots – Sabb had 2 interceptions from that position in the opener – with Devonta Smith and Red Morgan splitting the Husky position. Bray Hubbard, King Mack and Kameron Howard all figure to get in work at safety. There’s a lot going on back here personnel-wise, but it’s not like South Florida is locked in, and Alabama has better overall talent. Advantage: Alabama
SPECIAL TEAMS
Despite having a lot of team speed for its level, South Florida struggled on returns and punt return defense in 2023. Punter Andrew Stokes was just OK overall, although he was good from shorter punting distances, and PK John Cannon struggled with accuracy issues over the course of the season, although he did hit a 44-yard kick against Alabama. The Crimson Tide is in solid hands with Graham Nicholson at kicker and James Burnip at punter, and Cole Adams turned in a promising performance as punt returner against Western Kentucky. If there’s a nit to pick, it’s that kickoff specialist Conor Talty needs to get a higher percentage of his kicks into the end zone, but he seemed to settle in over the course of the WKU game. This one isn’t particularly close. Advantage: Alabama
OVERALL
It’s a straight-8 advantage for Alabama, and the Crimson Tide also strongly controls both OL-DL matchups. On the face, this looks like an even bigger mismatch than the opener, but South Florida has better speed on defense and a better sense of what it’s doing on offense, especially at the quarterback position. Byrum Brown may be limited as a passer, but his athleticism is at the level that he can tighten up games almost by himself.
However, with the problems South Florida has in the trenches, it’s hard to see the Bulls mounting a serious challenge to Alabama. The 17-3 win last year was an anomaly of the 2023 season for Alabama, triggered by uncertainty at quarterback that no longer exists. Alabama is coming off the opener with a ton of confidence, and knows it will be hosting a team it beat with its second- and third-team QBs a year ago.
We expect South Florida to be a tougher out than Western Kentucky was, but the Bulls shouldn’t really challenge Alabama either way. Building continuity under the new Kalen DeBoer regime is the primary order of business before the schedule turns difficult.
Alabama 45
South Florida 10
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Follow Jess Nicholas on Twitter at @TideFansJessN