QB Sims struggles as Tide defense dominates
Auburn’s Marshall throws 4 TDs
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Blake Sims’ bid to replace AJ McCarron as Alabama’s starting quarterback hit a snag Saturday afternoon when the Crimson Tide defense dominated the annual ADay game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Playing with the offensive starters on the Crimson Team, Sims completed 13 of 30 passes for 178 yards in a 17-14 loss to the White Team. Sims had a late touchdown and two interceptions.
“Nobody ever has a bad spring game, let’s start with that,” coach Nick Saban said.
“Everybody needs to understand that in games like today we really limit what we do on offense, we really limit what we do on defense, and we really don’t try to feature players. That may be a little bit of a disadvantage to our players. Blake Sims did some things at quarterback that we really don’t feature.”
Sims passed to sophomore wide receiver Chris Black for a last-minute 55yard touchdown, but he also had an interception returned for a touchdown by defensive lineman D.J. Pettway early in the third quarter.
Sims’ longest possession was just five plays, while redshirt freshman Cooper Bateman led drives of 14, 10 and eight plays for the White Team. Neither side was able to score in the first half when both teams had 116 total yards.
“I think he was pressuring a little bit,” Black said about Sims. “Throughout the spring he’s done a pretty good job of blocking all that stuff out, other people’s expectations out. Today was not one of our best days.”
Sims’ uneven performance came with Jacob Coker looking on. Coker is transferring to Alabama after graduating from Florida State next month. He backed up Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston this past season.
During the first two spring scrimmages, which were closed to reporters, Blake completed 40 of 62 passes for 455 yards and five touchdowns, but Alabama didn’t release any interception numbers. On Saturday, Sims connected on just one of his first six attempts.
Meanwhile, Alabama’s defense had 19 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and four interceptions in front of a crowd of 73,506.
“They’re for real,” senior linebacker Trey DePriest said about the defensive line.
The Crimson Team’s first offensive touchdown was set up by a turnover. Defensive end Tim Williams recovered Kenyan Drake’s fumble, leading to T.J. Yeldon’s 1-yard touchdown run.
Alabama’s kicking woes continued as sophomore Adam Griffith missed a 30-yard field goal and had a 47-yard attempt blocked by defensive lineman Jonathan Allen.
He later made a 41-yard attempt for the White Team at the end of the Alabama quarterback Alec Morris (11) is sacked by Jonathan Allen (93) and others during the A-Day spring game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday. third quarter, and Bateman tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to ArDarius Stewart in the fourth.
With 95 yards on 11 carries, Yeldon became the first player in Crimson Tide history to win the Dixie Howell Memorial player as A-Day MVP for a third time. Pettway and Allen shared the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the Game Award.
Although t he announced attendance is the largest in college football so far this spring, it was Alabama’s lowest since Saban arrived in 2007. The previous low was 78,200 in 2008.
AUBURN FIRST TEAM ROUTS SECOND TEAM
AUBURN, Ala. — Nick Marshall threw four touchdowns in two quarters as Auburn’s first team routed its second team 58-3 in a spring football game.
Marshall, the Tigers’ starter last season who occasionally struggled through the air, completed 13 of 22 passes for 236 yards. Wearing an orange non-contact jersey, Marshall kept only once on a zone-read play.
“(Marshall) is playing great right now,” wide receiver Sammie Coates said. “He is throwing the ball down the field and reading right. If he keeps moving in the right direction we are going to get better behind him.”
“I think the big thing (in Marshall’s improvement) is just being more comfortable,” Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn said. “You can see him in the pocket . you can tell he’s really improved.”
Backup Jeremy Johnson had less success with the second-team offense in the first half before moving to the first-team offense in the second. Combined, he was 9-of-21 for 130 yards and a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tony Stevens. Despite those struggles, Malzahn was still pleased with the promising sophomore.
“Jeremy’s had an excellent spring,” Malzahn said. “(Offensive coordinator Rhett) Lashlee’s given him about 25 percent of the snaps with our first group. We feel like he could play for most teams in the country.”
Auburn’s receiving corps also was impressive. Coates made a onehanded touchdown catch, D’haquille Williams debuted with five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown while Quan Bray caught two TD passes. Stevens caught two touchdown passes in the second half.
“We have some veteran guys (at wide receiver) that have some experience that understand our offense,” Malzahn said. “I feel like that group’s improved and of course you add (Williams) to it and some of those younger guys we have some depth there.”
“It’s going to be a really scary sight to see,” Marshall said, referring to the Tigers’ playmakers at wide receiver. “We’re throwing the football down the field to take some pressure off our running game, and we know we can run the ball.”
Corey Grant gained 128 yards on just five carries, including a 54-yard touchdown run, and Cameron Artis-Payne had 97 yards on 12 carries for the defending SEC Champions.
An announced crowd of 70,405 fans braved an unseasonably chilly day to cram into Jordan-Hare Stadium.
MISSOURI QB SCORES ON 80-YARD RUN
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Quarterback Marvin Zanders had an 80-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left in Missouri’s annual Black and Gold Game .
Zanders’ big run came right after fellow freshman Trent Hosick found sophomore Eric Laurent for a 93-yard touchdown reception.
Sophomore Maty Mauk completed 11 of 15 passes for 129 yards while senior Bud Sasser caught two passes for 22 yards in place of Dorial Green-Beckham, who was dismissed from the team last week.
STRONG ERA OPENS AT TEXAS
AUSTIN, Texas — The Charlie Strong era began at Texas with a shaky performance at quarterback and few questions answered about just how quickly the Longhorns can rebound in the Big 12 under their new coach.
With next season’s presumed starter David Ash not playing because of a foot injury, Tyrone Swoopes took all the snaps with the first-team offense in the Longhorns’ annual spring scrimmage. Swoopes rallied from a poor start to finish with 229 yards and three touchdowns against the second-team defense. But he likely did little to establish himself as the potential top-flight quarterback the Longhorns have lacked for several seasons if Ash’s injury problems persist.