Elijah Pritchett only came into the game as right tackle towards the end of the fourth quarter.
At that point, Alabama was leading South Florida 21-16. About six minutes later, the Crimson Tide defeated the Bulls 42-16 at Saban Field in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
While Pritchett didn’t score those three touchdowns himself, it’s hard not to notice the difference at right tackle over the last three drives.
Jam Miller’s 56-yard touchdown run and Justice Haynes’ 29-yard touchdown run both came from the right side of the offensive line, on Pritchett’s side.
Wilkin Formby started at right tackle and played the majority of the game. He struggled and received four holding penalties.
Why didn’t Pritchett start or replace Formby earlier?
After the game, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer was asked the following question: What led to the decision not to let Pritchett play until then?
“He took a little bit of a dip last game,” DeBoer said. “We tried to get through it. He didn’t practice much at the beginning of the week. Wednesday and Thursday. So he was ready to go. He probably worked a little bit more on the left side. We felt good after the week and just wanted to play with what we had with (Tyler Booker) and Geno (VanDeMark), but he was ready to go. He could have started the game. We just tried to hold on as long as we could. Try to keep him 100% healthy. He came through it well tonight. I think we’ll be in better shape next week as far as the offensive line goes. It was a little dicey during the week with a couple different guys.”
Against South Florida, Alabama had a different offensive line, as left tackle Kadyn Proctor was out with a shoulder injury. Left guard Tyler Booker moved to left tackle and VanDeMark replaced him at guard. Then Parker Brailsford was at center with Jaeden Roberts at right guard and Formby at right tackle.
Pritchett filled in for Proctor at left tackle in the season opener against Western Kentucky after Proctor was injured during warmups. Pritchett was originally scheduled to rotate with Formby at right tackle, but Proctor’s injury changed those plans.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X And Instagram.
