As spring practice officially came to a close with Saturday’s A-Day game, quarterbacks AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims continue to battle for the starting position.
Both quarterbacks were featured on both the Crimson and the White teams, with McCarron starting with Crimson the first half and moving to White the second half and Sims starting with White and moving to Crimson.
“I thought both the quarterbacks showed some promise in terms of making good decisions,” head coach Nick Saban said. “Both of them got picked, which probably wasn’t a good thing, but all in all, I thought they did a good job managing the game. We didn’t have a lot of issues, and they both showed that they have some ability to play the position and play winning football at the position. We were pleased with that.”
Combining his performances on both the Crimson and the White teams, McCarron went 21-for-38 for 222 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Both his touchdown and interception came with the Crimson team. McCarron’s longest throw was 27 yards to wide receiver Brandon Gibson.
“I think it’s kind of a tense situation when you have that competition going on, but both of them love each other,” Gibson said. “I mean, we all like each other as teammates, so the competition makes both of them better, so whichever quarterback we have, we’ll be fine with.”
Sims went 19-for-38 for 229 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, which came with the White team. His longest pass was for 28 yards to wide receiver Keiwone Malone.
Comparing these stats doesn’t seem to give one quarterback an edge over the other. The only statistic that was different between the two was in sacks. McCarron was sacked a total of six times, while Sims was only sacked once.
Running back Trent Richardson said he thought both quarterbacks played well.
“They’re battling out there, and they’re having fun,” he said. “We have a strong offensive line and with our good receivers that we have, I think the quarterback is going to be a pretty tight race at the end of the day. But as a team, we’re comfortable with both of them playing, starting.”
The only other difference in these two quarterbacks is that McCarron played in a few games last year, while Sims did not, as he was redshirted his freshman year. Though McCarron does have some playing experience, Saban said both athletes still need more real-game experience.
“There are some things they’re going to have to learn early on that they’re going have to learn by playing in a game,” Saban said. “We’re pleased with the progress they’ve made, but we understand the issues that we have moving forward, but I would rather have two talented guys that really are committed to being good players, want to be good, both of them. We feel fortunate to have two talented guys to work with.”
As for whether or not both quarterbacks will get steak or beans, there was no final word on the matter.
“I don’t know, that’s a good question,” center William Vlachos said. “We should ask Coach that. I’m getting steak, that’s all I know.”
