TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As was the case under Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer didn’t release stats following Alabama’s first preseason scrimmage Saturday. However, the first-year coach did peel back the curtain a bit to reveal a few useful nuggets from the closed workout inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
According to DeBoer, Saturday’s scrimmage involved 102 plays. Of those, 81 were spent between the first and second units while 21 involved the third unit.
Starting quarterback Jalen Milroe earned a positive report, while DeBoer said junior running back Jam Miller busted a big gain opened up by the offensive line. Defensively, DeBoer said his defensive line showed nice “strength in numbers” and provided a nice pass rush.
All of that is encouraging, but perhaps the most positive update involved Alabama’s discipline on the day.
A common theme throughout preseason camp has been the coaching staff’s emphasis on the little things — players lining up correctly, executing the game plan and avoiding costly mistakes. According to DeBoer, the Crimson Tide executed well in that regard, putting together a relatively clean scrimmage.
“The offense maybe drew the defense off one time,” DeBoer said. “So just procedure-wise, I don’t know if there was any false starts offensively, no illegal formations, no movements. If there was, maybe it was one that I can’t remember, but that’s where I think we were pretty clean.”
That is a pleasant surprise for a young Alabama team still trying to acclimate itself to a new coaching staff. The Crimson Tide is replacing all but one of its starters from last year’s secondary and is also looking to break in a new right tackle following the departure of top-10 pick J.C. Latham. While Alabama might not have everything ironed out just yet, things seem to be headed in the right direction with three weeks to go before the season opener against Western Kentucky.
“The mental mistakes, or what I would call a foolish penalty where we’re just not sharp, really kind of honed in on that here,” DeBoer said. “So I think we took the next step with the other penalties too. Really not much from a holding, I don’t know if we got any holding calls out there. We had one kind of illegal block back, crackback block that was really good for us to actually have happen because we can learn from that and talk through that. Maybe one pass interference.
“The penalties were really down and minimal. So I like the way we’re having some urgency and we’ll move around offensively. The guys are all getting set, so all the processes that we have in place, the guys are doing a really good job.”
Last season, Alabama was tied for 49th nationally, averaging 5.6 penalties per game. That included a frustrating trip to Texas A&M in which the Crimson Tide was flagged 14 times, including nine false starts.
Penalties have been a problem for Alabama in recent years. During the 2022 season, the Tide finished tied for 126th with 7.9 penalties per game. That came after Alabama tied for 101st averaging 7.1 infractions per outing in 2021. Interestingly enough, DeBoer’s Washington team was one of the most penalized teams in the nation last year, averaging 7.5 flags per game.
Saturday’s scrimmage marked the ninth of 20 preseason workouts for Alabama leading up to game week for its season opener against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31. The Crimson Tide will return to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sunday for its open Fan Day practice.
