Nick Saban was asked after Alabama football’s win over South Florida on Saturday what he thought of the Crimson Tide’s offensive line performance.

“How many sacks did they have?” Saban asked.

Five was the answer. The same number the group gave up last week during the Crimson Tide’s loss to Texas.

“Based on that I wouldn’t evaluate it very well,” Saban said.

Neither of Alabama’s two quarterbacks who played in Saturday’s game had much time to throw the ball. Tyler Buchner started the game and proved more adept than Ty Simpson at avoid pass rushers, with all five of the sacks coming after Buchner was replaced.

After the game, Saban said the offensive line did a poor job of executing against the Bulls.

“They have probably as exotic a pressure package as anybody we’ve played,” Saban said. “And they do a really good job of executing it. And I don’t think that they did anything different. It’s just that the multiples, there’s so many multiples that you’ve got to change protections and slide protections different ways and recognize how to do that. I thought we did a good job in practice of handling it but we didn’t do a good job today.”

The offensive line was missing one of its key pieces on Saturday in guard Tyler Booker. Saban said afterward that Booker, who was in uniform and served as one of Alabama’s captains, was out with back spasms.

In his place was Terrence Ferguson II.

“Book’s kind of the leader of the offensive line,” Saban said. “He certainly helps (tackle Kadyn Proctor) play better because he plays beside him and makes all the calls and I think (Proctor) has a lot more confidence when he’s in there, so hopefully we’ll get him back next week.”

If Alabama is to compete in SEC play, that group will need to be better. The starting offensive line is large, the biggest bunch of regular starters in the conference.

Still, it can’t seem to protect the passer, regardless of who the quarterback is. Even before he was replaced as starter, Jalen Milroe was running for his life far too much against MTSU and Texas.

Improvement could start on Alabama’s last offensive drive of the game. The Crimson Tide wanted to make the 10-3 game a two-score affair when it got the ball back with 6:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Don’t give them the ball back,” Saban said he told the team. “Take the clock and the game.”

With 33 seconds left, Simpson executed a quarterback sneak into the end zone. Mission accomplished.

It was a start. But it wasn’t good enough for Saban.

“A work in progress,” offensive guard Darrian Dalcourt said. “We’re gonna watch the film to see what we can do better.”

The Crimson Tide will be back in action next Saturday to face Ole Miss at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

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