Alabama football beat South Florida on the road Saturday. That’s the good news.

The bad news is despite the win, the Crimson Tide looked horrible in many facets of the game. As SEC play draws near with Ole Miss coming to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, here’s our grades from the USF game.

Offense: D-

It was an ugly one for the Crimson Tide. Tyler Bucher started quarterback but struggled, getting the hook in the second quarter in favor of Ty Simpson. Simpson threw the ball a bit better and scored a touchdown late on a QB sneak, but the passing game overall was rough.

The run game fared slightly better. Roydell Williams ended up with 129 yards and a touchdown, while Jase McClellan had 74.

More than those performances, this grade is largely about the offensive line. The group was putrid in pass blocking, with Simpson getting sacked five times.

Tyler Booker was out, but Alabama allowed five sacks last week with him in the game. It’s not just blitzes either, the group is just flat out getting beat.

The Crimson Tide could have the best quarterback in the SEC taking snaps, but if they don’t start spending less time on the ground, it’s going to be a long conference season for USA.

Defense: A-

This only gets dinged due to a few missed tackles, including one play where freshman safety Caleb Downs got run over by a USF running back, plus a penalty negating an interception. But overall, the defense was stellar.

The Crimson Tide only allowed three points, and those came after UA muffed a punt deep in its own territory, setting USF up for a field goal. When the offense struggled, the defense came up big time and time again.

After going sackless against Texas, the Crimson Tide pass rush looked much improved against the Bulls. Alabama had four, led by Dallas Turner, who had 2.5.

The defense also came up huge on fourth downs, stopping USF on four of its six attempts.

Whether that performance will translate into SEC competition is yet to be determined, but Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss team will help figure that out next week. Against USF, the defense did everything it needed to.

Special teams: C

James Burnip was excellent. Whether having the punter be one of the best players on the field throughout the game is good for the Tide is a separate question, but he has been brilliant all season.

Will Reichard made a field goal and all of his extra points, so no concerns there either. The issues came in the return game.

As mentioned earlier, Kool-Aid McKinstry accidentally touched a rolling punt, gift-wrapping three points for USF and causing Nick Saban to lose his temper on the sideline. Terrion Arnold had a kick return for a touchdown immediately after that, but it got waved off due to a holding penalty.

The ball was returned to Alabama’s 11-yard line, and the Crimson Tide failed to score on the drive. That can’t happen going forward.

Coaching: C-

The penalties were crippling. Beyond that, Alabama just looked sloppy.

Saban and company went with Buchner at quarterback and that didn’t work out. At least the staff realized when things weren’t going well and made a change.

So many of Alabama’s problems in the game were due to undisciplined play. At some level, that’s the fault of coaching.

Overall: C-

This could have been a D depending on what your school’s policy about passing grades is. Whatever the lowest possible grade that wouldn’t require a stint in summer school is, that’s what the USF game earned Alabama.

The Crimson Tide got the job done, but the win didn’t inspire any confidence entering SEC play.

FROM THE LEDE: Alabama wins but loses more luster all at the same time