🏈 Spring Scrimmage #1 Stats/Recap/Saban's PC...

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

First the stats...

Alabama Football – Spring Scrimmage #1 (April 6, 2013)
*Stats include 11‐on‐11,situational drills,red area, goal line and 2‐minute

​

Passing Leaders
AJ McCarron – 15 for 28, 291 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Blake Sims – 13 for 19, 129 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT



Rushing Leaders
Kenyan Drake – 11 rushes, 85 yards, 1 TD
T.J. Yeldon – 16 rushes, 63 yards, 1 TD
DerrickHenry – 12 rushes, 52 yards



Receiving Leaders
DeAndrew White – 7 rec., 132 yards, 2 TD
Amari Cooper – 3 rec., 120 yards, 1 TD



Defensive Leaders
Tana Patrick – 6 tackles
Deion Belue – 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU
TreyDePriest – 4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INT
HaHa Clinton‐Dix – 4 tackles, 1 INT
DenzelDevall – 4 tackles, 1 sack
Landon Collins – 4 tackles
Ed Stinson – 3 tackles, 1 sack
Dillon Lee – 3 tackles, 1 sack
C.J. Mosley – 2 tackles, 1 INT



Scoring
Passing Touchdowns (6): AJ McCarron – 4 (43 yards, 28 yards, 5 yards, 17 yards); Blake Sims – 1 (8 yards); Parker
McLeod (33 yards)
Rushing Touchdowns (2): KenyanDrake – 1 (58 yards); T.J. Yeldon – 1 (3 yards)



Recap from UA Media Relations...

Tuscaloosa, Ala - The Alabama football team held its first scrimmage of spring practice on Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The scrimmage lasted roughly 130 plays and was two hours under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s.
"We're not where we would like to be, and we have a lot of work to do," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said on Saturday. "It all starts with guys being able to sustain the kind of mental intensity that you need to have to be a good football player, especially when things get a little bit tough, it gets a little bit hot and you get a little bit tired. We just don't have the mental toughness that we need with enough guys to sustain things, pay attention to detail, so that we can execute better as a team."


Senior quarterback AJ McCarron completed 15-of-28 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns while throwing one interception to C.J. Mosley. He found DeAndrew White a scrimmage-high seven times for 132 yards and two touchdowns - on throws of 43 and five yards. Amari Cooper also added 120 yards receiving on three catches and one score while contributing the longest play of the afternoon on a 71-yard strike from McCarron that did not go for points.


T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake both ran well with Drake leading the way with 85 yards on 11 carries. He broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown run up the middle and averaged 7.7 yards per tote. Yeldon carried 16 times for 63 yards and one score while freshman Derrick Henry ran rushed for 52 yards and added 27 receiving.


"We had some guys that did very well out there," Saban said. "AJ (McCarron) did a good job, and Blake Sims really did a good job. The runners did a really good job and we had a couple receivers do a good job."


Senior Tana Patrick led the defense with six tackles while senior cornerback Deion Belue added five stops with a tackle for loss and one pass breakup. Trey DePreist, HaHa Clinton-Dix, Denzel Devall and Landon Collins all contributed four tackles. DePriest, Devall, Ed Stinson and Dillon Lee also had one sack each.


"Defensively, we had some guys play well, but it's kind of hit and miss right now," Saban said. "We don't have enough guys doing the right things the right way all the time. That's something that we really need to work on."


It was the eighth practice of the spring for Alabama who returns to the practice field on Monday. The Crimson Tide will then scrimmage again next Saturday.


"This is probably what you would expect in this point in the spring," Saban said. "It's a work in progress to try to continue to improve to do the things we need to do and how the players respond to that will determine how quickly we get those things done. That's the goal, and that's why you have spring practice."


Alabama's 2013 A-Day Game is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, at 2 p.m. (CDT) inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The A-Day Game is once again free to the public and will be televised live on ESPN2.






Coach Saban's Post-Scrimmage Presser...
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[RollTideRandy]

It's good to see Tana Patrick having a major impact. I had pretty much given up on this once highly touted recruit. Will he have a big role in the defense this year?

 

[bamaraider]

Heard some things that Blake Sims has improved a lot in the passing department and in QB mechanics.

 

[bamaraider]

Great news for DeAndrew White.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

It's good to see Tana Patrick having a major impact. I had pretty much given up on this once highly touted recruit. Will he have a big role in the defense this year?

Way too early, but I think big role would be a big surprise.

 

[The Capstone]

From all the talk after the first scrimmage, it seems as if our O-line and DB's are our weakest groups. Obviously those are the positions where we suffered the most losses during the offseason, and its going to take time for those positions to come together. As of right now, the 1st-string O-line is (from left to right) Cyrus Kouandjio, Arie Kouandjio, Ryan Kelly, Anthony Steen, and Austin Shepherd. Leon Brown and Brandon Hill are still fairly new, but I think they are serious contenders for the RT position. Alphonse Taylor is still in the mix for either of the Guard positions, as well. John Fulton is still recovering from an injury, but once healed, will be able to contribute at CB. For the time being, Geno Smith and Belue will be the starters. It would be nice to find one more elite-in-the-making CB before the season starts. That void could be answered with the arrivals of Maurice Smith and Jonathan Cook in the Summer, or possibly with Cyrus Jones or Jai Miller (who seems to have all the physical tools to be great, just needs to grasp the system and concepts). I think at this point as a team, we are moving along just fine. There's still plenty of time for our players to mesh and start becoming efficient.

On a more lighter note, its good to see that DeAndrew White seems to be almost fully-recovered (if not all the way recovered) from his injury. Our WR corps is probably going to be the best Bama has ever seen with Cooper, White, Black, Norwood, and Falkins. I heard that Yeldon looked excellent in the open field, and we'll definitely need him to be healthy in leading our ground game. I also heard that Henry did not look at fluid as Drake or Yeldon, but I think that adjusting to the speed of college football takes time and reps. Hopefully Fowler will continue to heal, and Alabama will have a full stable of RB's for the season.

 

[psychojoe]

Have a friend who is a REC member. he said Saban spoke to them privately after the scrimmage. He said a couple of unnamed REC members asked really dumb questions and got the same treatment from CNS that reporters get.

 

[BAMA JAMMA]

Cooper looks to of added on about 10-15 lbs of muscle! :icon_eek:

highlight practice vid http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2013/04/practice_spotlight_on_alabama.html

 

[bamaraider]

I think our CB's will be fine this year. Geno Smith, Deon Belue, and John Fulton all got some significant playing time last year and shined, just lacked experience. I think they'll gel in quickly in the defense and be better. It's good to be facing against a WR core that is so deep every practice though. Get them ready for real game time.

Only concern for me on the O-line is communication. Going up College Station will be one of the toughest atmospheres some of them will EVER see.

 

['65 Cobra]

It's good to see Tana Patrick having a major impact. I had pretty much given up on this once highly touted recruit. Will he have a big role in the defense this year?

As I recall, Tana was very highly recruited coming out of high school - I believe he was a consensus four-star. I always expected more out of him as he came up with Mosely. Not sure he will even break the starting line-up this year, but we can always hope that he puts together a great season.

 

[planomateo]

He could outgrow the middle of the field...

 

[The Capstone]

The practice report for Monday (April 8th) noted that Dee Hart was back working with the RB's. Many have said that Saban usually places injured offensive skills players on defense, once they recovered from an injury. This helps the player get acclimated to physical contact. I think Dee Hart offers another dimension in the backfield. All of our RB's have a unique roll in our gameplan. Backs like Yeldon, Drake, Kamara, and Tenpenny have that "every-down" physical stature. Henry and Fowler are FB builds with incredible talent. But Dee is small, but very quick. After watching his highlight film, I've noticed that he is not afraid to run up the middle, and he has great vision and a knack for getting into the endzone. We saw great glimpses of him in his first spring game. I hope he is able to contribute to our already loaded backfield, and maybe even on Special Teams!

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I keep going back to a player quote that Henry will end up being the second coming of Courtney Upshaw.


RTR,

Tim

 

[JoshB]

As I recall, Tana was very highly recruited coming out of high school - I believe he was a consensus four-star. I always expected more out of him as he came up with Mosely. Not sure he will even break the starting line-up this year, but we can always hope that he puts together a great season.

If I'm not mistaken Tana is an insider backer so I dont see there much chance of of him unseating DePriest and obviously not CJ at this point. So unless he moves to SAM and takes it from Devall I would think our biggest hope is he can contribute as a backup.

From all the talk after the first scrimmage, it seems as if our O-line and DB's are our weakest groups. Obviously those are the positions where we suffered the most losses during the offseason, and its going to take time for those positions to come together. As of right now, the 1st-string O-line is (from left to right) Cyrus Kouandjio, Arie Kouandjio, Ryan Kelly, Anthony Steen, and Austin Shepherd. Leon Brown and Brandon Hill are still fairly new, but I think they are serious contenders for the RT position. Alphonse Taylor is still in the mix for either of the Guard positions, as well. John Fulton is still recovering from an injury, but once healed, will be able to contribute at CB. For the time being, Geno Smith and Belue will be the starters. It would be nice to find one more elite-in-the-making CB before the season starts. That void could be answered with the arrivals of Maurice Smith and Jonathan Cook in the Summer, or possibly with Cyrus Jones or Jai Miller (who seems to have all the physical tools to be great, just needs to grasp the system and concepts). I think at this point as a team, we are moving along just fine. There's still plenty of time for our players to mesh and start becoming efficient.

On a more lighter note, its good to see that DeAndrew White seems to be almost fully-recovered (if not all the way recovered) from his injury. Our WR corps is probably going to be the best Bama has ever seen with Cooper, White, Black, Norwood, and Falkins. I heard that Yeldon looked excellent in the open field, and we'll definitely need him to be healthy in leading our ground game. I also heard that Henry did not look at fluid as Drake or Yeldon, but I think that adjusting to the speed of college football takes time and reps. Hopefully Fowler will continue to heal, and Alabama will have a full stable of RB's for the season.

Jai is gonna be at Safety, correct? I think with Fulton, Beleu, and Geno will be a really good rotation of corners if we can get another that can play to their level.

The practice report for Monday (April 8th) noted that Dee Hart was back working with the RB's. Many have said that Saban usually places injured offensive skills players on defense, once they recovered from an injury. This helps the player get acclimated to physical contact. I think Dee Hart offers another dimension in the backfield. All of our RB's have a unique roll in our gameplan. Backs like Yeldon, Drake, Kamara, and Tenpenny have that "every-down" physical stature. Henry and Fowler are FB builds with incredible talent. But Dee is small, but very quick. After watching his highlight film, I've noticed that he is not afraid to run up the middle, and he has great vision and a knack for getting into the endzone. We saw great glimpses of him in his first spring game. I hope he is able to contribute to our already loaded backfield, and maybe even on Special Teams!

Kamara and Dee are relatively identical in size so I'm expecting them to be very similar in style especially since Kamara seems to have that same lack of fear of going up in the middle as Dee does despite his size. The question with Dee is gonna be if his speed can come close to being back. I like him as a return man and it looked like he was settling in there when he got hurt. Very sure handed back there as a punt returner. I'd also like to see Sylve get a shot too tho.

 

[bamaraider]

Henry and Fowler are FB builds with incredible talent.

Henry would be pretty valuable in red zone packages or 3rd down. He can really keep defenses honest though because he could sneak out into the flat wide open and then create some damage in open space.