All five of Alabama’s quarterbacks played in Saturday’s game, but only one, Alec Morris, finished the spring game without an interception. Freshman Blake Barnett, who played for both the Crimson and White teams, threw two picks, as did redshirt freshman David Cornwell.
“This game was set up, you know, to try and look at the quarterbacks and try to give them an opportunity,” Saban said. “I think the guys that played with the second team – because the offensive line was not probably up to snuff or what it needs to be, relative to the second defensive line – they probably did not have the same opportunity to have success.”
The two quarterbacks who saw the most playing time were Cornwell and senior Jake Coker. Cornwell finished the game 12-for-24 for 110 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while Coker went 14-for-28 with 183 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
“There can be no great conclusions drawn from any of what happened today, other than we’re pleased with what we saw in some of the guys,” Saban said. “We will take that into fall camp and this summer and try to build on it.”
At times, Coker looked like the best quarterback of the five, making a couple of nice throws including a 40-yard touchdown strike to ArDarius Stewart, but he did throw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Maurice Smith in the second half. In the first half of the game, Coker threw a ball which probably should have been intercepted but was dropped by linebacker Dillon Lee.
“I thought Jake did a good job,” Saban said. “He threw the one pick that was a pick-six.”
One factor that caused a rather disappointing showing for the gunslingers was the way the teams were split up. The White team quarterbacks, Coker and Morris, had the advantage of throwing to the co-MVPs of the game, Stewart and Robert Foster. Both of those receivers had over 100 yards receiving while the Crimson team’s leading receiver was running back Ronnie Clark, who had seven catches for 40 yards.
“If I had to play on those two teams, I would have played better on the White team,” Saban said. “They had a much better opportunity. We lost a lot of players on offense so we don’t have a lot of depth on offense right now, so it really affects the second unit a lot more than it does the first, especially when you add a few guys that are injured.”
In addition to throwing six interceptions, the quarterbacks were also sacked a total of eight times.
