New ball game: Tide QB Buchner in portal for lax

• Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff WriterDec 4, 2023, 05:09 PM ET

With Alabama reveling in its SEC championship game victory over Georgia, which saw it leap from eighth to fourth in the final College Football Playoff rankings, its quarterback room had some movement Monday with the news that redshirt sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner has entered the transfer portal as a lacrosse player.

Buchner, who transferred to the Crimson Tide last offseason from Notre Dame, where he played in three games in 2022, played lacrosse at The Bishop’s School (La Jolla, California), according to his Alabama bio.

He was considered one of the top lacrosse recruits in the country while in high school. He hasn’t ruled out a return to football, but a source close to Buchner told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Buchner is expected to explore his lacrosse options this spring.

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The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Buchner was No. 41 overall in the 2021 ESPN 300. He appeared in two of the Crimson Tide’s first three games this season, completing 8 of 19 passes for 61 yards while in a quarterback competition with another redshirt sophomore, Jalen Milroe.

After Buchner and freshman Ty Simpson struggled during Alabama’s 17-3 victory at South Florida on Sept. 16, coach Nick Saban decided to go back to Milroe as the starter for the rest of the season.

With Milroe improving as the year progressed, the Crimson Tide will head into their date with top-ranked Michigan in the 2024 Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential on New Year’s Day riding an 11-game winning streak since their 34-24 home loss to Texas on Sept. 9.