South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer finished his press conference and walked out to the hallway at Everbank Field in Jacksonville. His team had just lost the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, and when he saw quarterback Tyler Buchner waiting to start his own presser, Beamer felt he needed to say something.

“Heck of a performance,” Beamer, speaking at SEC Media Days, said he told Alabama football’s newest transfer quarterback. “Great respect for you, made some really good throws.”

The game was Buchner’s return to the field after missing 10 contests due to a shoulder injury. It was the first time he’d ever faced SEC competition and he played a huge role in leading the Fighting Irish to a 45-38 win.

In that game, Buchner completed 18 of his 34 attempts for 274 passing yards and three touchdowns. He added two more scores on the ground, along with 61 rushing yards.

“Just a guy that you can tell his teammates had a great respect for him,” Beamer said. “Rallied around him and certainly a guy they had a lot of confidence in at Notre Dame.”

The Gator Bowl was a back and forth affair that demonstrated the best and the worst of Buchner, who will compete for Alabama’s starting job after following offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to Tuscaloosa. In addition to the five touchdowns he accounted for, Buchner threw two interceptions, both of which were returned for touchdowns.

With 1:38 left Buchner hit Mitchell Evans, his tight end for the winning score. His performance was memorialized with the Gator Bowl’s MVP award.

“I felt good about him,” Gamecock defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway said when asked about his impressions of Buchner in that game. “Looked like a tough kid. He was real, real tough, you know? I liked the way he played, the way were competing out there.”

Buchner joined returnees Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson as options for Alabama’s starting job next year. Milroe served as Bryce Young’s primary backup last season, while Simpson saw limited action while preserving his redshirt.

Nick Saban said Wednesday that Alabama’s quarterback battle is nowhere near settled ahead of fall camp.

“You know Grandma Saban used to cook the best cakes in the world,” Saban said. “And I used to stand by the oven when I was a kid and say ‘When’s this cake going to be done?’ And she said ‘If I don’t let it go through and and take it out of the oven too soon, it’s going to turn to mush so it won’t be a really good cake. So I think we got to let this sort of develop and make sure we let the cake bake until somebody separates themselves.”

Alabama football opens the season against Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 2 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.

More from SEC Media Days: How Tommy Rees’ youth could be an asset for Alabama football’s offense