The 3-2-1, Alabama's Offense Is Going To Be Explosive
On Saturday, April 22nd more than 74,000 fans at Bryant-Denny received their first taste of the 2017 Alabama Football Team. The Spring Game featured 51 total points and 730-yards of total offense. Today, we provide you with three things we learned, two question marks, and one prediction after watching the Crimson defeat the White 27-24.
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ICYMI: 10 takeaways from Alabama's A-Day game
More: Recap Crimson wins 27-24 | Game Stats | Photos from the Game
Three Things We Learned
1. The Offense Is Going To Be Explosive
Sophomore Quarterback Jalen Hurts and Freshman Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa combined to throw for 614-yards and 5 touchdown passes on the day, it was quite the spectacle, to say the least. Under first year Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll who joined the Crimson Tide’s Football Staff from the New England Patriots, Alabama went to the air and displayed a lightning-quick series of big play scores in the first half. During the White’s first possession Tagovailoa made a check call at the line of scrimmage, then hit Freshman Jerry Jeudy for a 23-yard first down. On the second play, Freshman Najee Harris busted open a 19-yard run for another first down.
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Two plays later Tagovailoa hit T.J. Simmons for a 15-yard touchdown. The opening drive was 5-plays for 60-yards. The White’s next scoring drive which was a touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to Jeudy went 3-plays for 75-yards. Then Hurts led the Crimson down the field on a 2-play drive that went 70-yards in just 0:44 seconds when he connected with Robert Foster on a 65-yard touchdown strike. During Alabama’s first four touchdowns of the spring game, the average scoring drive read like this: 3.5 plays for 71.3-yards and lasted an average of 1:50 seconds.
Bad defense? You could argue that, but if you rewatch the spring game, you’ll see the type of execution both quarterbacks displayed putting the football right where it needs to be and also a credit to Daboll for taking advantage of mismatches. While Alabama’s offense air attack was the lead story after A-Day, remember Alabama is built for ground control and their two top backs from last season in Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris did not even play during the game nursing minor injuries. Alabama averaged 39.4 points per game during the 2016 season, if they are better under Daboll calling the offense, could that number hit 40 points per game or higher in 2017?
2. Alabama’s roster is filled with incredible youthful talent
Sophomore Quarterback Jalen Hurts was 16 of 25 passing for 301-yards, 2 TDs, 1 Int
Sophomore Receiver T.J. Simmons caught for 82-yards of 6 receptions and 1 TD
Sophomore Defensive Lineman Raekwon Davis 7 tackles, 1 sack (Linemen MVP)
Sophomore Corner Trevon Diggs recorded 1 int, 2 pass deflections
Sophomore Terrell Hall recorded 60-yard int for a touchdown
Freshman Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 17 of 29 passing for 313-yards, 3 TDs, 1 Int
Freshman Receiver Jerry Jeudy caught for 134-yards off 5 receptions and 2 TDs (Overall MVP)
Freshman Running Back Najee Harris accounted for 150-yards of total offense
Freshman Linebacker Dylan Moses accounted for 4 tackles
Freshman Defensive Lineman Quinnen Williams 4 tackles with 1 sack
Freshman Corner Kyriq McDonald recorded 1 int
3. Kicking Game Concerns
While Alabama is top flight in nearly every category, the one area where they really seemed to struggle during A-Day was their kicking game. The Crimson Tide went 3 for 6 on the game, projected starter Andy Pappanastos was 0-2 on the day missing from 38-yards and from 31-yards out.
* Postgame notes from Alabama's A-Day game
JK Scott who is Alabama’s All-American Punter went 3-4, kicking field goals on the day and ended up kicking the game-winning field goal for the Crimson nailing a 30-yarder as time expired. The good news is: This was only a spring game and Alabama has Joseph Bulovas coming in this summer. Bulovas is a Class of 2017 commitment that has shown plenty of promise kicking at Mandeville High School in Louisiana. With special teams being a vital part of every game, improving in this area you have to think is a priority entering this coming season.
Two Questions
It’s a question that will be brought up all summer long leading into the first game against Florida State. While the 6-foot-1, 220-pound early enrollee in Tua Tagovailoa can spin the football exceptionally well, remember that now Sophomore Jalen Hurts is 14-1 as a starter, just one second away from being 15-0.
Following the spring scrimmage, Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban had this to say on Tua, “Tua has played well in all of the scrimmages, he had two series with the one’s where he went three and out. That is not really what we would like to see. These statistics are very misleading. If you want to get the true stats, take away all the sacks. Because those are all the negative plays that we had because we were passing the ball.”
*Was anyone really surprised to see Hurts lead the team
Saban also spoke on competition, “Competition is healthy for your team. What is significant to my job is have guys keep competing, Iron sharpens Iron, so good guys competing against good guys making each other better so that we get more guys that can play winning football. That is what is important to me. Do we have starters in stone at every position? No. There is competition at positions and if somebody is a better player that can give us a better chance to win, we are going to play that guy.” Now, while that does not answer the question on whether there will be a quarterback battle or not, it’s clear that Saban will put the best on the field. Right now, Jalen Hurts is that guy.
2. What Are Nick Saban’s Thoughts On Facing Jimbo Fisher?
“I think that Jimbo is an outstanding coach. He’s done a fabulous job. He did a great job for us. He was one of the best offensive coordinators that I’ve ever had, college or pro. Very creative, very good teacher, does a great job with the quarterbacks, they have talented players, and they have played at a high level on a pretty consistent basis and I am sure his leadership contributes to that quite a bit. We’ve also evolved through the years in terms of some of the things that we do, and the way football has changed, especially on offense with the RPOs, and some of the things that people do differently now, so philosophically is there some similarities, probably that is true with a lot of the coaches have programs that we compete against. You’re not really playing against the coach, it’s going to be a game about the players and how the players play and execute against one another and they have a lot of good players and we’ve got some good players, so it should be a really good game.”
One Prediction
The secondary unit was torched on A-Day allowing more than 600-yards passing and 5 touchdowns. Big throws up and over the top were featured throughout the game. Florida State’s passing game coordinator must be licking his chops. However, Alabama’s secondary is composed of veteran leadership and should rise up throughout the next few months. Alabama returns six defensive starters from the 2016 season and out of six of those starters, four are from the secondary.
The Crimson Tide return Anthony Averett (8 pass deflections in 2016) at Corner who is now a senior, Ronnie Harrison (83 tackles in 2016) who will be at free safety, Minkah Fitzpatrick (6 interceptions in 2016) at the strong safety position, and Tony Brown (32 tackles in 2016) at the Star, and really the only new face in the group is Sophomore Trevon Diggs. Diggs who was expected to play receiver for Alabama has emerged as a favorite to start at corner opposite of Averett. This group has too many playmakers to not improve. If anyone believes Alabama’s secondary unit is a weakness, they’re wrong.
READ: 10 takeaways from Alabama's A-Day game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A stark contrast of dragging A-Days of the past, Alabama put on show during its annual spring game Saturday. The Crimson and White teams combined for 730 yards of total offense, 661 yards coming through the air.
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