Why Austin Mack got in the game at quarterback early in second quarter for Alabama vs. ULM

Austin Mack played his first snaps against Louisiana-Monroe earlier than many might have expected.

Mack went into the game early in the second quarter when the Crimson Tide were up 28-0.

This came as a bit of a surprise because many would have thought Ty Simpson would play most, if not all, of the first half offensive snaps.

Kalen DeBoer offered some interesting insight into this decision after the game.

“As far as the series early on with Austin getting in, it was just something we wanted to do.” DeBoer told reporters. “It wouldn’t matter really who, this week, next week, who we were playing. We just really got with the quarterbacks on Monday, we shared with them, we want to get Austin in first series. We want to be really intentional. There’s a lot of competition going on at all spots. I love what that brought out in all of those guys. I think it brought out another level of work. They stayed the course and started with those guys. We just let them know. I thought Austin had a good week of practice.”

Mack hit the Tide’s freshman tight end, Kaleb Edwards, with a laser of a throw in the back of the endzone soon after getting in to put the Tide up 35-0. The California native would go on to finish the game 8-of-10 for 80 yards and two touchdowns.