How cutting back on sweets has helped Bo Scarbrough better his game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Cornbread is no longer in the diet, but sometimes it’s a little harder to say no to peach cobbler.
Bo Scarbrough might have slimmed down this season, but the Alabama running back still has a sweet tooth and a soft spot for his mother’s cooking.
“I ask him now before I make anything because I know he’s trying to cut back a little bit,” said Donetris Scarbrough, Bo’s mother. “We had peach cobbler the other day and I was like ‘Bo you want peach cobbler?’ He was like, ‘uhhhhh, yeah, but I can’t eat as much of it.’ I also made cornbread and I asked him if he wanted any, he was like, ‘Nah, I can’t have cornbread, I don’t need that.”’
Bo said he’s trimmed 15 pounds over the offseason and now weighs in at a lean 227 pounds. The 6-foot-2 junior says the change has made him a better back, stating his body “feels more clean.”
Read: Know the foe: Vanderbilt Commodores | Levi Wallace putting up elite numbers
Recent results seem to be pointing to an improved game as well.
Through three games, Bo has tallied just 142 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries, an average of 4.3 yards per touch. However, his leaner build has allowed him to step up his performance in the passing game where he is second on the team in receptions with six for 55 yards. That’s already more than double the amount of receiving yards he had last year.
Earlier in the season, Cam Sims stated he sometimes gets onto Bo during practice, teasing him after drops. The Alabama wide receiver is quick to remind Bo of a catch he made during the 2014 Under Armour All-American Game while jokingly questioning if the running back still has that pass-catching ability.
“He’ll be like, ‘the Under Armour Bo would have caught that.’ And I’ll be like, ‘If I lose a little weight, then I can catch it,’” Bo said. “So I lost a few pounds and I’m able to catch those passes.”
Don't Miss: Alabama seeking to flip offensive targets
Coming back from a broken leg he suffered in the national championship game last season, Bo has seen improvement in each of three Alabama’s games so far. After being held to just 40 yards on 15 carries against Florida State, the bruising back ran for 36 yards on just six carries against Fresno State. Last week, he put together his best performance of the season, running for 66 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while catching three passes for 36 yards.
“People say the old Bo is back, but to me, he’s always been the same Bo,” Donetris said. “Coming off the injury he wasn’t performing the way people were used to him performing, but he's back to his usual self now.”
Donetris means that in both a physical and mental standpoint. Following Bo’s injury, the family dinners at his mother’s home took on more a solemn tone. A normally outgoing and jovial Bo kept mostly to himself, swallowing his frustration with every bite.
“When it happened in January I noticed he was angry,” Donetris said. “His mood changed. I think it kind of shook him a little bit. He eventually got over it, but it shook him a little bit before he came back around from it.”
Related: This Alabama back is one of the team leaders in an unexpected stat
Donetris knew better than to ask her son about the injury right away. She’s seen Bo suffer through a myriad of injuries during his career. The running back broke his ankle during his freshman season of high school and tore his ACL toward the end of his sophomore year. He was then sidelined for a third straight season as a high-ankle sprain cut his junior year short.
According to Donetris, the toughest injury came during Bo’s first semester at Alabama as he suffered another torn ACL during a scrimmage during the spring of 2015. Each time, the comforting mother knew exactly what to say.
“I just tell him that everything happens for a reason,” Donetris said. “I just told him, ‘Bo it wasn’t your time. Every time ain’t your time.’ Sometimes even if you think it’s your year it is not your year.”
Despite the slow start, it’s possible that this year might actually be Bo’s year. It certainly looked that way when he barreled through the hole for a 9-yard touchdown run last week. Following that score, his first of the season, Bo flashed his now signature touchdown celebration, holding up his hand to show off the script A on his glove.
The star running back made that move famous during a 180-yard game against Washington in last year’s Peach Bowl as he got in the end zone twice against the Huskies. He’s hoping last week will the first of many times he can replicate the gesture this season.
“I love the A on the glove,” Bo said with a big grin. “Pretty sweet, huh?”
Just the way he likes things.