Alabama offense stunk – and it's all good

TUSCALOOSA – Not even Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach could’ve made Alabama’s offense in Saturday’s A-Day game look good.

The units combined to go 6-of-28 on third downs. The quarterbacks were, hold up.

Wait a minute.

Am I in Tuscaloosa or Auburn? The Tigers were 1-of-22 on third down in their A-Day game last week. At least Daniel Carlson made all five of his field goals, including two that traveled 50-plus yards.

Adam Griffith wasn’t nearly as accurate. The senior missed his first four attempts in going 1-for-5 with the make being only 21 yards. So Griffith made sure Nick Saban’s 10th A-Day was far from perfect.

Now back to the quarterbacks. They were bad at times and inconsistent the rest of the time. Bateman, who started with the first team, went just 9-of-24 passing for just 86 yards and David Cornwell, his backup, was worse – 5-of-13 for 50 yards. Redshirt freshman Blake Barnett was sacked six times.

Big bad Bo Scarbrough managed just 20 yards. Damien Harris ran for 114 yards in earning game MVP honors, but played against the second-team defense. Calvin Ridley and Cam Sims were dropping passes.

And senior O.J. Howard, who came back to school when he could have left for the NFL after his MVP performance in in the national championship game, had just one catch for seven yards in his last A-Day game.

So much for getting him more involved in the offense. You know what’s crazier?

All that doesn’t even matter.

Alabama will get its offense together by Sept. 3. Saban was going to lean on his defense anyway to give the offense time to figure it out. Lane Kiffin has proven he can make it work with a different starting quarterback in each of his two years as offensive coordinator at Alabama.

He adjusts to personnel better than most. So while Bateman, Cornwell, Barnett and freshman Jalen Hurts didn’t create any separation by playing well Saturday, Kiffin will make it work with whoever winds up starting against Southern California.

Plus, Kiffin isn’t about to have the offense flop against the school that fired him. By preseason camp, he’ll have a more complete first-team offense than the one that didn’t even score a touchdown Saturday.

The defense deserves some credit for keeping the Crimson team out of the end zone even without injured defensive end Jonathan Allen. However, the defense isn’t as good as it looked Saturday, but the offense can’t be that bad – can it?

Bateman will probably get the nod. That won’t set well with some Tide fans who watched Hurts move the offense and account for the only touchdown Saturday, but pump the brakes on that for a minute.

Hurts went against the second team. Bateman faced the first.

Still, Bateman’s interception inside the red zone is something that while this was just a spring game, a blown opportunity for him to win so Crimson could eat a steak dinner.

Instead Ronnie Harrison picked him off to seal a ribeye, T-bone or whatever cut of meat for the White team to enjoy while Bateman and the Crimson team must settle on beans and franks.

Ugh. Didn’t like that meal as a kid. Won’t eat it now, but Alabama can take solace in the fact that the foundation of its first-team offense isn’t solidified.

Two-year starting left tackle Cam Robinson didn’t play due to injury. Starting guard Alphonse Taylor was on the second team because he’s too big for Saban’s likening. Saban called out Taylor by saying the listed 345-pound senior, who started all 15 games last season, needs to drop some weight to start.

So expect the 6-foot-5 Taylor to push back from the dinner table quicker. Even if he doesn’t meet Saban’s weight requirement, which I don’t know, he’ll still play.

Sophomore Lester Cotton will likely start at guard, but redshirt freshman Brandon Kennedy probably won’t. That’s Taylor’s job to lose – no pun intended.

Ross Pierschbacher is learning a new position at center in trying to replace All-American Ryan Kelly. Senior Korren Kirven, who started for Robinson, is a career backup. Robinson will be ready Sept. 3.

Redshirt freshman Jonah Williams started at right tackle. Williams isn’t as talented as Robinson, but Robinson struggled during first spring in Tuscaloosa before becoming a freshman All-American.

Williams, an early enrollee like Robinson was, could make the same transition and flourish early.

Alabama will get that unit together, which will make life easier for Scarbrough. It was a struggle for him Saturday, but that probably was a blessing. He got humbled, but that should only motivate him.

Plus, Scarbrough won’t face a defensive front like the Tide has too often this season.

Once Alabama establishes the run, that’ll in turn open up the passing game to give whoever starts at quarterback the one-on-one matchups Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster will exploit.

With all that being said, Alabama, like Auburn, has quarterback problems. The difference is Alabama has more talent around the quarterback.

Auburn needs its guy to have a big year to compete for an SEC title. Alabama can ease its starter into the mix, play off its stout defense, run the ball and still win games.

Still, Alabama's first-team offense looked awful Saturday. Not even the woman Steve Harvey said won Miss Universe by mistake could have made it look any better.