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Joseph Goodman |
This spring, the biggest concern among Alabama assistants and head coach Nick Saban is one that remains.
The brewing quarterback battle doesn't matter.
The missed field goals were annoying, but mostly insignificant.
No one inside the Crimson Tide's coaching offices is fretting over Alabama's new offensive coordinator.
This spring, the biggest concern among Alabama assistants and head coach Nick Saban is one that remains. How is this Alabama defense going to respond to giving up a last-second touchdown against Clemson to lose the national championship game?
That's still the only question that means anything in Tuscaloosa, and that's the one question that hopefully will drive and motivate the defense throughout the long summer and into fall camp.
Because as of right now, this Alabama defense might lack toughness, and there was nothing that happened during the A-Day game on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium that quelled those fears. That's the concern coming out of Alabama's defensive coaching staff, and that's the message coaches conveyed to the defense's leaders throughout spring practice.
This Alabama defense is going to be plenty athletic next season, but it enters the summer short on fortitude.
"We're going to work on finishing, and that's the main thing," said Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans, whose White Team lost 27-24 to the Crimson Team on Saturday.
It was only a practice game, but the final score wasn't completely meaningless. Just like it did in the national championship game, Evans' first team defense gave up a game-winning scoring drive in the final seconds.
The White Team defense had the game won until safety Ronnie Harrison extended the opposing offense's drive with a targeting penalty. The infraction occurred with 52 seconds left in the game. It was only a practice, of course, but, all the same, it offered another example of Alabama's defense failing in the end.
"Just with the White Team itself, we wanted to treat that whole situation like the Clemson game," Evans said. "We came up short, but going into summer workouts, we're just going to work on finishing. That's the main thing."
For college football teams, mental toughness is forged over the summer. As if there wasn't enough there already, this Alabama defense now has a little something extra to keep it motivated through the hot summer months.
"I feel like the summer is the most important part of the whole season," Evans said. "A team really builds itself, and understands what it's going to be once the season starts, and once we do that we'll be OK."
There were bright spots, of course. There always are in the spring.
-- The first-team defense registered six sacks against the first-team offense, and the second-team defense registered six sacks as well.
-- Terrell Hall's interception return for a touchdown was the most athletic play of the practice. Hall had the quickness and anticipation to jump a screen route by freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The 6-5 sophomore linebacker then had the height and athleticism to intercept the passing attempt and race untouched for a pick six.
-- Freshman receiver Jerry Jeudy had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Alabama's second-team secondary sometimes deployed three defenders on the young receiver and still couldn't stop him.
-- Tagovailoa is going to be a great backup next season for starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. I don't see a way for Tagovailoa to win the job over Hurts in the fall. Hurts will have to mess up in a big way to move down the depth chart.
Sure, it's going to be fun watching the two quarterbacks compete during fall camp, but let's not call this a quarterback controversy. Hurts is the returning SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and he put Alabama in position to win the national championship game. I think that's enough of a resume to call him the entrenched starter.
The bottom line is Alabama will have two elite quarterbacks next season in case one of them goes down, and that's a better situation than almost every other team in the country.
-- The five best players on Alabama's team, in order, entering the summer are defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, defensive tackle Da'Ron Payne, linebacker Rashaan Evans, quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver Calvin Ridley.
Maybe this summer the new offensive coordinator can figure out how to get Ridley the ball.
-- The three biggest concerns for Alabama entering the summer are, in order, internal questions about the defense's toughness, the kicking situation and replacing Marlon Humphrey at cornerback.
Of course, it was Humphrey who maybe should have peeled off his man and covered Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow on the final play of the 2017 national championship. Call it a lack of mental toughness.
"That's going to fuel us a lot," Evans said of allowing Clemson to drive down the field and win the national championship. "I feel like now, once these guys have been through that situation, we have a chip on our shoulder now. I feel like our work is going to go up, and we're going to work even more harder with the fact that we've been through that, and we understand the situation that we were in.
"And I just hope this whole situation, we learn from it and get better."
Continue reading...
The brewing quarterback battle doesn't matter.
The missed field goals were annoying, but mostly insignificant.
No one inside the Crimson Tide's coaching offices is fretting over Alabama's new offensive coordinator.
This spring, the biggest concern among Alabama assistants and head coach Nick Saban is one that remains. How is this Alabama defense going to respond to giving up a last-second touchdown against Clemson to lose the national championship game?
That's still the only question that means anything in Tuscaloosa, and that's the one question that hopefully will drive and motivate the defense throughout the long summer and into fall camp.
Because as of right now, this Alabama defense might lack toughness, and there was nothing that happened during the A-Day game on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium that quelled those fears. That's the concern coming out of Alabama's defensive coaching staff, and that's the message coaches conveyed to the defense's leaders throughout spring practice.
This Alabama defense is going to be plenty athletic next season, but it enters the summer short on fortitude.
"We're going to work on finishing, and that's the main thing," said Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans, whose White Team lost 27-24 to the Crimson Team on Saturday.
It was only a practice game, but the final score wasn't completely meaningless. Just like it did in the national championship game, Evans' first team defense gave up a game-winning scoring drive in the final seconds.
The White Team defense had the game won until safety Ronnie Harrison extended the opposing offense's drive with a targeting penalty. The infraction occurred with 52 seconds left in the game. It was only a practice, of course, but, all the same, it offered another example of Alabama's defense failing in the end.
"Just with the White Team itself, we wanted to treat that whole situation like the Clemson game," Evans said. "We came up short, but going into summer workouts, we're just going to work on finishing. That's the main thing."
For college football teams, mental toughness is forged over the summer. As if there wasn't enough there already, this Alabama defense now has a little something extra to keep it motivated through the hot summer months.
"I feel like the summer is the most important part of the whole season," Evans said. "A team really builds itself, and understands what it's going to be once the season starts, and once we do that we'll be OK."
There were bright spots, of course. There always are in the spring.
-- The first-team defense registered six sacks against the first-team offense, and the second-team defense registered six sacks as well.
-- Terrell Hall's interception return for a touchdown was the most athletic play of the practice. Hall had the quickness and anticipation to jump a screen route by freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The 6-5 sophomore linebacker then had the height and athleticism to intercept the passing attempt and race untouched for a pick six.
-- Freshman receiver Jerry Jeudy had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Alabama's second-team secondary sometimes deployed three defenders on the young receiver and still couldn't stop him.
-- Tagovailoa is going to be a great backup next season for starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. I don't see a way for Tagovailoa to win the job over Hurts in the fall. Hurts will have to mess up in a big way to move down the depth chart.
Sure, it's going to be fun watching the two quarterbacks compete during fall camp, but let's not call this a quarterback controversy. Hurts is the returning SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and he put Alabama in position to win the national championship game. I think that's enough of a resume to call him the entrenched starter.
The bottom line is Alabama will have two elite quarterbacks next season in case one of them goes down, and that's a better situation than almost every other team in the country.
-- The five best players on Alabama's team, in order, entering the summer are defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, defensive tackle Da'Ron Payne, linebacker Rashaan Evans, quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver Calvin Ridley.
Maybe this summer the new offensive coordinator can figure out how to get Ridley the ball.
-- The three biggest concerns for Alabama entering the summer are, in order, internal questions about the defense's toughness, the kicking situation and replacing Marlon Humphrey at cornerback.
Of course, it was Humphrey who maybe should have peeled off his man and covered Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow on the final play of the 2017 national championship. Call it a lack of mental toughness.
"That's going to fuel us a lot," Evans said of allowing Clemson to drive down the field and win the national championship. "I feel like now, once these guys have been through that situation, we have a chip on our shoulder now. I feel like our work is going to go up, and we're going to work even more harder with the fact that we've been through that, and we understand the situation that we were in.
"And I just hope this whole situation, we learn from it and get better."
Continue reading...
