TUSCALOOSA, Ala. _ University of Alabama fans hoping that a quarterback would stand out during Saturday’s final scrimmage of training camp are going to be a little disappointed.
Nick Saban doesn’t appear close to naming a starter between junior Jacob Coker and senior Blake Sims for the Aug. 30 game against West Virginia in Atlanta.
“Until somebody clearly wins the job, we’re not going to make a decision,” the coach said during his post-scrimmage press conference.
“Both guys had their moments of doing good things, but I also saw inconsistencies with those guys,” Saban said. “I do think Blake probably is playing a little faster right now, been in the system longer, has a better understanding, has a little bit more rhythm. I think sometimes Jake is still trying to feel his way. He made some real significant strides in practice this week and had some really good practices. That’s still going to be a competitive situation.
Just like last week’s first scrimmage, which was played in the rain, Alabama didn’t release any passing statistics. However, the coach did hint that there were numerous miscues, dropped passes, and a couple of interceptions off deflections.
“Offensively, we never really got a lot of rhythm,” he said. “Couple drives we got some rhythm, whether it was a dropped ball, a misfired pass, a penalty — lot of shooting ourselves in the foot type of stuff.”
Saban said a lot of those things were correctable, though.
Alabama has to replace three-year starter AJ McCarron, who was just the third quarterback to start a game for the Crimson Tide since Saban arrived in 2007. However, when McCarron beat out Phillip Sims in 2011 the two split snaps during the season opener and McCarron wasn’t named the starter until after he led the Week 2 victory at Penn State.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
