Crimson Tide Gets In Final Water-Logged Scrimmage
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| David Cornwell (12) & Jalen Hurts (2) Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt |
According to RollTide.com, the Crimson Tide ran approximately 150 plays on hot, muggy Saturday afternoon. The humidity was sky-high following the passing of the rain storm.
Concerning the scrimmage, Saban said, "The focus was to improve from last week to this week, and there were a lot of players that made a significant amount of improvement. We are obviously not where we want to be. We are not disappointed in where we are."
Footing was precarious on the rain-soaked field. Yet Saban was fairly pleased with the scrimmage. He again called out the first teams and their effort, though saying improvement was still needed.
"We've got plenty to work on. We're not disappointed in where we are," Saban stated. "We are excited about the things that we are going to look at technically from this scrimmage and work to improve on this week before we start getting ready for our first game against USC, which will be a very challenging opponent."
There were no significant injuries during Saturday's scrimmage, though several players were held out of the action and didn't participate. (See accompanying story.)
Everyone was given an opportunity to participate at some point during the scrimmage, giving the coaches another opportunity to see each player in a more "game-like" light. Quarterbacks rotated out, with none seemingly standing out enough to be named as starter, which no one was expecting anyway.
This was the second and final scrimmage for the Crimson Tide. Bama opens the 2016 football season
against the Trojans of Southern California in the AdvoCare Classic on Saturday, September 3rd. The Crimson Tide and Trojans kick it off at 7 p.m. CT at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the game airing on the ABC Network. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Sam Ponder will be calling the contest.
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| Photo Credit: 247Sports |
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Saban Pleased With Progress Of Crimson Tide
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| UA Head Football Coach Nick Saban Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban appeared to be pretty pleased with what he saw on Saturday during the Crimson Tide's final scrimmage when compared to the previous one. Saban assessed his team's progress throughout the fall camp and their performance in this past Saturdays water-soaked scrimmage.
Thunder, lightning and a deluge of rain inundated the area, and the team left the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium for awhile during the worst of it.
Despite the fact that he was disappointed in the number of penalties, and we all know how he feels about penalties, he said that there were "a lot of players" who had shown improvement since the last scrimmage. He id say that there needed to be better execution, but said that the effort was better.
Saban commented, "We did make some explosive plays, just need to clean up and do things and execute with a little more discipline and focus."
Once again Saban offered praise for the first team, saying they played decently, but added that the team has "got plenty to work on."
Concerning quarterback play, something every Tide fan is wondering about, Saban said that there are no questions concerning the "capabilities" of the quarterback corp, but that they "can't make the plays that lose the game." He added that he thinks "it starts with that." He also commented that he couldn't "say that one guy sticks out right now. Each has different skill sets."
What about naming a starting quarterback against USC with that game so close? Saban said, "The person that can play with the most consistency is the guy that's going to have the best opportunity to lead us in the first game, and I can't really say that one guy sticks out right now." (USC announced yesterday that Max Browne will make his first career start against the Tide on September 3rd.)
When it came to the play of the defensive backs, Saban said that he was encouraged. He called out Hootie Jones, Trevon Diggs and Deionte Thompson that stood out on Saturday. He also had praise for Anthony Averett for the way he has performed in fall camp.
On the injury front, a trio of players were held out of the scrimmage due to injuries. Saban named defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, linebacker Keith Holcombe and receiver Cam Sims as three he decided to hold out this past Saturday.
Tomlinson injured his ankle during Alabama's scrimmage the previous Saturday. Saban said, "He was dressed and probably could have done some things today, but we didn't want to push the envelope on him.
Holcombe is dealing with a twisted ankle, and Saban commented that he would probably be out "another day or two."
If you recall, Sims seriously injured a knee last spring. Saban commented, "We held him out basically because we thought it would be good for him to get three days (off). We're not going to practice for the next two days ... so we wanted to take advantage of giving him some downtime that might be able to help him get back to 100 percent because he was having a really, really good camp."
Saban address the "playing freshmen" issue, saying he has no problem with it. He commented that, in fact, this season..."we'll probably have more freshmen play...than maybe we've had in awhile." He then went on to say that it was because "we feel good about some of them."
Could that extend to the quarterback position? He didn't say, but he hasn't ruled it out either. Saban says the starting position is still open, and has added that if a younger quarterback did manage to take hold of the offense then he had no problem with starting them.
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Former Alabama Standout Harry Gilmer Passes
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| Harry Gilmer The Famous "Jump Pass" Photo Credit: AL.com |
Harry Gilmer, the only Alabama player who has been selected with the first pick in an NFL Draft, has died.
Gilmer was a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1993. He became a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame two decades earlier, however, in 1973.
Gilmer played his high school football at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. He then went on to play as a halfback at Alabama in 1944. He will always be remembered for his "jump pass", and is the only Alabama player to ever finish in the top five of the Heisman voting twice.
While at Alabama, Gilmer led the nation in 1945 with 13 touchdown passes. He ran for 116 yards and a touchdown, as well as threw a TD pass as the Crimson Tide finished an undefeated season with a victory over USC in the Rose Bowl 34-14. In 1946 he led the nation in interceptions and punt-returns.
Not only is Gilmer the only player to lead Alabama in passing for four seasons, he also was the Crimson Tide's leading punt and kickoff return specialist all four years of his career at the Capstone.
Gilmer was the first player selected in the 1948 NFL Draft. He was chosen by the Washington Redskins.
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AP Releases Top 25 College Football Poll
The Associated Press released its first Top 25 College Football Poll for the 2016 season. No surprise at the top as The University of Alabama Crimson Tide claims the top spot, followed closely by the Clemson Tigers at second place.
A total of six Southeastern Conference teams made the Top 25. They are Alabama (1), LSU (5), Tennessee (9), Ole Miss (11), Georgia (18) and Florida (25).
Here is the AP College Football Top 25:
Rank Team Record Points Pv Rnk
| 1 | Alabama (33) | 14-1 | 1,469 | 1 |
| 2 | Clemson (16) | 14-1 | 1,443 | 2 |
| 3 | Oklahoma (4) | 11-2 | 1,352 | 5 |
| 4 | Florida State (5) | 10-3 | 1,325 | 14 |
| 5 | LSU (1) | 9-3 | 1,269 | 16 |
| 6 | Ohio State (1) | 12-1 | 1,224 | 4 |
| 7 | Michigan (1) | 10-3 | 1,147 | 12 |
| 8 | Stanford | 12-2 | 1,029 | 3 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 9-4 | 1,021 | 22 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 10-3 | 1,006 | 11 |
| 11 | Mississippi | 10-3 | 718 | 10 |
| 12 | Michigan State | 12-2 | 710 | 6 |
| 13 | TCU | 11-2 | 707 | 7 |
| 14 | Washington | 7-6 | 651 | - |
| 15 | Houston | 13-1 | 644 | 8 |
| 16 | UCLA | 8-5 | 496 | - |
| 17 | Iowa | 12-2 | 484 | 9 |
| 18 | Georgia | 10-3 | 448 | - |
| 19 | Louisville | 8-5 | 447 | - |
| 20 | USC | 8-6 | 344 | - |
| 21 | Oklahoma State | 10-3 | 316 | 20 |
| 22 | North Carolina | 11-3 | 283 | 15 |
| 23 | Baylor | 10-3 | 280 | 13 |
| 24 | Oregon | 9-4 | 218 | 19 |
| 25 | Florida | 10-4 | 180 | 25 |
