Quarterback Greg McElroy's gaudy numbers in Alabama's first preseason scrimmage last Saturday opened eyes on a couple of different fronts.
McElroy was 26-of-33 for 360 yards and threw six touchdown passes and no interceptions. Backup quarterback A.J. McCarron threw for 241 yards and two touchdown passes to go along with two interceptions.
The obvious question: Is Alabama's passing game that potent, or does the Crimson Tide -- extremely inexperienced in the secondary -- have issues on defense.
One thing to keep in mind is that scrimmage statistics can be terribly misleading, but Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn't exactly singing the praises of his defense following the scrimmage, either.
"I don't think defensively, as a whole, that we played very well at all," Saban said. "We didn't tackle. We didn't finish. We didn't clean up tackles and knock runners back. We didn't have the
eye of the tiger we need to be a good defensive team, and that's all 11 of them."
Several Alabama defensive backs left the scrimmage with injuries -- safety Robert Lester (concussion), cornerback DeQuan Menzie (hamstring) and cornerback DeMarcus Milliner (ankle).
Here's a report and stats from the scrimmage, which was closed to the public, by the Alabama sports information department.
Reviewing Alabama's scrimmage - SEC Blog - ESPNClick to expand...