April 11, 2015
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
It's essentially an open audition for the starting role of quarterback, and with just one scrimmage remaining, not one of the five competitors has separated himself, and that includes Saturday's scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
No passing statistics were released by media relations following the scrimmage, but a literal understanding of UA head coach Nick Saban's press conference remarks leads one to believe that any of the five that includes Jake Coker, David Cornwell, Alec Morris, Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett, have a chance to establish themselves before the season-opener on Sept. 5.
"…we're giving five quarterbacks all an opportunity to play," Saban said. "I think that they all have shown at some point in time they have some ability to do it, but nobody has really yet stood out to the point where you can say, 'Well, that's the guy.'"
Given that fact, and with acknowledgement to an outstanding defense on the other side of the ball, Saturday's scrimmage tilted heavily defensive.
The defense asserted its will, establishing an identity, winning the turnover battle and keeping the offense from creating much consistency, Saban said.
"When you're playing against yourself, when one side does good the other side has to do not-so-good," Saban said. "So you don't really know exactly whether you're really that good on one side or that bad on the other.
"I think what we need to do here is continue to try to create our identity as a team. I think we've done a lot of different things on offense this spring, and I really do think we have to establish an identity of what we can do and what we're going to do.
"I think if we had (quarterback) resolved that it would be easier for us to establish an identity on offense. We probably turned the ball over too much offensively today, but I thought the defense did a great job of ball-hawking, tipping balls, attacking the ball and doing a good job of creating turnovers - which is something that we have really, really emphasized, that is one of our goals to improve on for next season."
Saban highlighted sophomore wide receiver Robert Foster and junior tight end O.J. Howard as skill position players that stepped up, but also cautioned that the offense needs more of those types of effort.
Foster led the team offensively with six receptions for 102 yards while Howard caught four passes, two for touchdowns, for 45 yards.
While he'd like one, or more, quarterbacks to establish himself, Saban is fine for the time being giving each quarterback a fair shake and letting the competition play out.
"…I think the way we do it is, each day we give three guys the bulk of the work, and then the next day we rotate and give three guys the bulk of the work," Saban said. "So there is continuity. I think when the scrimmages come, because you only have two, is you want to give everybody an opportunity so you can evaluate them.
"So that's what we've done, we'll probably continue to do that even in A-Day. And I think most importantly over the summer, and in fall camp, we're going to need to establish, 'OK, here's the guy.' But somebody's got to take the bull by the horn and do that too. It's not for us to give away, it's for somebody to earn. So, that's sort of the plan right now."
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.
RUSHING LEADERS
Ronnie Clark - 17 rushes, 29 yards
Lawrence Erekosima - 7 rushes, 29 yards
Derrick Henry - 6 rushes, 24 yards
RECEIVING LEADERS
Robert Foster - 6 rec., 102 yards
Parker Barrineau - 4 rec., 81 yards
Raheem Falkins - 2 rec., 46 yards
O.J. Howard - 4 rec., 45 yards, 2 TD
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Jarran Reed - 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 PBU
Dalvin Tomlinson - 5 tackles
Ronnie Harrison - 4 tackles
Dillon Lee/Reuben Foster - 3 tackles, 1 INT (each)
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1756203#sthash.3tcJfMTl.dpuf
Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
It's essentially an open audition for the starting role of quarterback, and with just one scrimmage remaining, not one of the five competitors has separated himself, and that includes Saturday's scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
No passing statistics were released by media relations following the scrimmage, but a literal understanding of UA head coach Nick Saban's press conference remarks leads one to believe that any of the five that includes Jake Coker, David Cornwell, Alec Morris, Cooper Bateman and Blake Barnett, have a chance to establish themselves before the season-opener on Sept. 5.
"…we're giving five quarterbacks all an opportunity to play," Saban said. "I think that they all have shown at some point in time they have some ability to do it, but nobody has really yet stood out to the point where you can say, 'Well, that's the guy.'"
Given that fact, and with acknowledgement to an outstanding defense on the other side of the ball, Saturday's scrimmage tilted heavily defensive.
The defense asserted its will, establishing an identity, winning the turnover battle and keeping the offense from creating much consistency, Saban said.
"When you're playing against yourself, when one side does good the other side has to do not-so-good," Saban said. "So you don't really know exactly whether you're really that good on one side or that bad on the other.
"I think what we need to do here is continue to try to create our identity as a team. I think we've done a lot of different things on offense this spring, and I really do think we have to establish an identity of what we can do and what we're going to do.
"I think if we had (quarterback) resolved that it would be easier for us to establish an identity on offense. We probably turned the ball over too much offensively today, but I thought the defense did a great job of ball-hawking, tipping balls, attacking the ball and doing a good job of creating turnovers - which is something that we have really, really emphasized, that is one of our goals to improve on for next season."
Saban highlighted sophomore wide receiver Robert Foster and junior tight end O.J. Howard as skill position players that stepped up, but also cautioned that the offense needs more of those types of effort.
Foster led the team offensively with six receptions for 102 yards while Howard caught four passes, two for touchdowns, for 45 yards.
While he'd like one, or more, quarterbacks to establish himself, Saban is fine for the time being giving each quarterback a fair shake and letting the competition play out.
"…I think the way we do it is, each day we give three guys the bulk of the work, and then the next day we rotate and give three guys the bulk of the work," Saban said. "So there is continuity. I think when the scrimmages come, because you only have two, is you want to give everybody an opportunity so you can evaluate them.
"So that's what we've done, we'll probably continue to do that even in A-Day. And I think most importantly over the summer, and in fall camp, we're going to need to establish, 'OK, here's the guy.' But somebody's got to take the bull by the horn and do that too. It's not for us to give away, it's for somebody to earn. So, that's sort of the plan right now."
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.
RUSHING LEADERS
Ronnie Clark - 17 rushes, 29 yards
Lawrence Erekosima - 7 rushes, 29 yards
Derrick Henry - 6 rushes, 24 yards
RECEIVING LEADERS
Robert Foster - 6 rec., 102 yards
Parker Barrineau - 4 rec., 81 yards
Raheem Falkins - 2 rec., 46 yards
O.J. Howard - 4 rec., 45 yards, 2 TD
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Jarran Reed - 5 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 PBU
Dalvin Tomlinson - 5 tackles
Ronnie Harrison - 4 tackles
Dillon Lee/Reuben Foster - 3 tackles, 1 INT (each)
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1756203#sthash.3tcJfMTl.dpuf
