The Alabama football team wrapped up its spring training Saturday with its annual A-Day game in front of 78,526 fans. The White team, led by the first-team defense, defeated the Crimson team, led by the first-team offense, 24-15.
Head coach Nick Saban said he was pleased with the performance of his players during the spring and A-Day, but said he still sees room for improvement on both sides of the ball.
“One thing that never happens in college football, nobody ever has a bad spring, nobody ever has a bad spring game,” Saban said. “We had a lot of guys make a lot of improvements this spring. We’re still focusing on guys knowing what it takes to win.”
It was a defensive struggle to start the game, as both teams went scoreless in the first quarter. The defense was so dominant in the first half, that it even scored the first points of the game, when Mosley earned a safety to put the Crimson team up 2-0 five minutes into the second quarter.
The White team responded with a 48-yard field goal from Cody Foster to put the White team up 3-2 midway through the second quarter. Then, with 1:28 remaining in the half, the Crimson team scored the first touchdown of the day when AJ McCarron connected with Christion Jones for a 17-yard passing touchdown, putting the Crimson team up 9-3.
The White team responded, this time when Chris Black scored a 44-yard receiving touchdown from Phillip Sims midway through the third quarter. The White team followed up with another score with 45 seconds left in the third, this time with a 50-yard connection between Sims and T.J. Yeldon to take a 17-9 lead over the Crimson team. Still, the Crimson team was able to keep the game close. McCarron threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Bell off a flea flicker to close out the third quarter. After a failed two-point conversion, the teams entered the fourth quarter with White leading Crimson, 17-15.
The White team held the Crimson team scoreless in the fourth and added a touchdown to put the game away on a Vinnie Sunseri 21-yard fumble recovery.
McCarron completed 29-of-42 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Sims went 9-of-12 passing, with 135 yards and two touchdowns. Each quarterback was sacked three times.
Yeldon earned Most Valuable Player honors and led all rushers with 88 yards rushing for the White team. Dee Hart and Jalston Fowler led the Crimson team with 44 and 22 yards, respectively.
Yeldon also led all receivers with 91 total yards and a touchdown. Bell led the Crimson team with 86 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, C.J. Mosley led both teams with 10 tackles and a safety, while Adrian Hubbard finished with seven tackles and three sacks. Sunseri, Robert Lester and HaHa Clinton-Dix each had one interception.
Despite the loss for the Crimson team, Barrett Jones said he was pleased with the way his team improved as a whole through the spring.
“I guess when it’s both your teams, it doesn’t hurt quite as bad,” Jones said. “Going into the spring, our biggest goal was to improve. I think we got so much better from the beginning of spring to the end of spring.”
