Alabama football starting quarterback Jalen Milroe only had to play 2½ quarters to do his job for the day.

Milroe completed 11 of 16 passes for 186 yards, two touchdowns to go with a rushing score against Mercer to set up the Crimson Tide enough that it could give its backup quarterbacks plenty of work.

So Ty Simpson came into the game and played about a quarter. Then Dylan Lonergan got his chance. Austin Mack did that too. All scholarship quarterbacks got a chance. Cade Carruth, a walk-on quarterback from Trussville, even came into the game late.

The five quarterbacks all saw action in a game that saw No. 10 Alabama beat Mercer 52-7 on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

After the win, DeBoer had a chance to give his thoughts on the play of his backup quarterbacks for the Crimson Tide (8-2, 4-2 SEC).

He started with Simpson, who completed five of 10 passes for 71 yards while rushing for 14 yards on two carries, including one for 13 yards.

“Typically with some scrambling,” DeBoer said, smiling. “The tall one along our sidelines. People who actually know Ty and have seen him… you can see he has that ability. Can do things with his feet… Ty is also difficult to deal with when it comes to running the football.

Simpson’s most impressive play came when he escaped a sack on third-and-15, then found Josh Cuevas downfield for a 43-yard pass to put Alabama close to the goal line. That set up a fourth-quarter touchdown on the next play, putting Alabama ahead 45-7.

“If it gets picked, it gets picked,” DeBoer said. ‘Smart to give him a chance. Find a way to make a play.”

Next in the match was Lonergan. Mack replaced him later in the fourth quarter.

Lonergan helped Alabama convert a fourth-and-3 with 6:09 left when Lonergan hit Ty Lockwood for five yards. Lonergan completed five of six passes for 23 yards.

Mack completed two of three passes for 39 yards and one touchdown, a late score for Rico Scott to punctuate the victory.

“There’s a great opportunity to have these guys run the offense and get that experience and get a chance to do what they work on every day,” DeBoer said. “I was proud of the way they handled everything from execution to even procedural matters, making sure the guys were in line before they moved. All that stuff. I thought it was a good day for all of them as a whole.