re: Bama Football Tidings

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Scrimmage Nuggets:

-- All three quarterbacks played well Saturday. Nick Saban mentioned efficiency more than once in his post-scrimmage comments, and all three signal-callers completed nearly 70 percent of their passes and led one scoring drive each during the 133-play practice. Mac Jones completed long passes to DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle but threw an interception. Bryce Young, in his first scrimmage, played well but turned the ball over on a fumbled snap. Paul Tyson didn’t have any turnovers this afternoon or at all in any of the last three Saturday practices.

-- They also worked on a lot of situations, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. They covered all the bases, basically -- whether it was placing the ball at each 1-yard line, setting the chains at 3rd and long or working on plays with only a few seconds on the clock. That’s been the approach the last two weeks. It also sounds like Young saw a few extra reps to get him caught up.

-- The running game was also effective. Najee Harris is clearly the No. 1 back and had a solid outing Saturday. But Harris has talented teammates at his position. It sounds like both Trey Sanders and Roydell Williams put together successful scrimmages earlier today.

-- Defensively, a few guys were in black, no-contact jerseys. One was Christian Barmore, who Saban said is dealing with a minor knee injury and will be out for a few days. Another was Josh Jobe at corner. Justin Eboigbe and Marcus Banks stepped up in their absences, respectively. Also of note -- and stop us if you’ve heard this before -- Will Anderson was “unreal.”

-- Saban said Will Reichard was 4-of-5 on field goals with his only miss coming from roughly 55 yards out. Although he is still competing with Joseph Bulovas, Reichard has performed well in both scrimmages. It sounds like the punting was good but not great on Saturday.

-- A bit of housekeeping: the team will have the next two days off before returning to practice on Tuesday. It will practice three days in a row and will start focusing on opponents before having the weekend off before the first game week of the season. Football is almost back.

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Man you guys are getting worked up about things that have already been discussed with both players and families. Mac is and will be the starter unless he starts to play bad. Young will get reps in nearly every game and increase/decrease based on performance. This is Mac final year at Bama and he should improve his draft stock this year if he stays healthy. Bryce knows he is the future and he is not going anywhere, especially as long as Sark is here. Pointless conversation.

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Great find from @starrettjason: #collegekickers went 32/53 (60.1%) on field goal attempts yesterday. Worst day of FG kicking in FBS since 2007.

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A&M's top receiver just opted out. That game just got a little easier.

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This is a valid point.

I don't know if this is just a normal evolution (the wishbone lasted for two decades), but it seems that the spread/HUNH system has really resisted a definitive defensive counter scheme for a long time, for most all teams.

Rule changes have also certainly helped.

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