The Ultimate Truth About Alabama's A-Day Spring Game

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fl.) There's an old saying my Grandfather taught me that applies to just about every aspect of life, and I'll share it with you here today.

You almost always get what you're looking for. Whatever you want to find the most, you will.

No words could better sum up Alabama's spring A Day game/practice yesterday. There was plenty to see and much for the rabid supporters and the detractors to point as reasons why Alabama will either repeat or fall back into mortal team status this year.

First of all let's begin with the fans. Over 91,000 of them showed up, despite the practice being telecast on ESPN television.

Fans will say that shows the faithful are behind this team and detractors will point to the empty seats and the even emptier seats by the forth quarter.

As Granddad said, it all depends on what you were looking for.

The truth in the situation is: who else had over 91,000 show up for a practice game? Who else supported their team better? Plus, compared to last year's attendance of just 84,000, this was improvement.

Nick Saban once again proved that for all the money he makes and the high profile he has, that he obviously has no one on on staff to advise him in matters of wardrobe. I've met his wife Terry, a sophisticated lady with impeccable taste. Why doesn't Nick just let her buy his clothing?

It never ceases to amaze me how picky the fans are about his taste in colors he chooses. My wife, who never comments on fashion despite being an artist, even said,

"Oh God, who picks out his clothing? Those are terrible colors on him!"

I wouldn't have even included these paragraphs in the story were it not for the fact the "usual suspects" who usually include my inner circle, all real Southern men with nary of hint of petunias in their garden if you get my drift, didn't go into a discussion that just as easily could have been from a group of fashion designers on everything from past jacket color choices to ties obviously left over from his LSU days.

The truth is, Saban needs help with his wardrobe. The fact that it bothers so many women and real men is proof.

Now for the game and players and the real news of the day.

With so many questions about the replacements on the defensive and offensive lines, and most importantly, in the defensive secondary, would we find any of the answers today?

Again, yes and no, depending on what you were looking for. If you wanted to believe that Marcel Darius was an unstoppable beast who would raise Alabama's sack count, you saw him win the Dwight Stephenson Award as the game’s top lineman with three tackles, a sack for a 12-yard loss against Greg McElroy and two quarterback hurries.

Yet, first year starter, D.J. Fluker held him in check for most of the game and when he did get free on pass plays, Bama backs were alert enough to keep off the quarterback just long enough for the pass to get off.

Once again, it's all depending on what you were looking for that determines just how happy you were with the results.

Some were disappointed with the offense, coming back with almost all the skill players intact didn't light up more points as expected. Again, let's look at the hard truth here.

Last year's A-Day game produced a 14-7 Crimson win. This year's version produced a 23-17 white win.

That's almost double last year's offensive production. The offense is much better off than last year's and while you won't see double the output each game, you'll see more points, more explosive big plays and better stats.

What held Alabama back even more were the drops of receiver Julio Jones. I would like to say uncharacteristic drops, but he had quite a few last year.

If you wanted to point to a single player that defines the saying, you get what you're looking for, Jones would be the poster model for it. If you were looking for greatness you saw glimpses of that, if you were a doubter of his ability, you saw the drops.

The truth is, Jones is both a gifted athlete with superstar abilities but plagued with inconsistency. For Alabama to return to the national championship game yet again, the team must do what Jones has to do, display the greatness and lose the inconsistency.

Other truths to come out of this practice game were:

The revamped defensive line proved it could do what the nation's number one defensive unit (Texas) couldn't do just a few months ago.

Stop perhaps the two best runners in one college backfield. Each ran for over 100 yards on Texas, but each were kept in check except for one breakout run by Trent Richardson. Both backs combined, in limited play, rushed for 112 yards, 22 for Richardson and 90 from Ingram, including a 60-yard run.

Another truth is that the college football world will have to deal with a three headed monster in the Alabama backfield this year with Eddie Lacy joining Ingram and Richardson. He ran for over 5 yards a carry and one touchdown against the number one defense and showed the flash and power the other two so often show.

The defensive backs, all mostly young, untested gave both supporters and doubters much to look at. As expected, there was good and bad from such a young group, but the truth was, overall, they did a little better than expected playing against such a veteran offense loaded with stars.

The other truth is they showed both the great talent they posses and the lack of experience.

But they did manage to do something that only four other players in college football have ever been able to do, they picked off Greg McElroy.

As using this game to catch a glimpse of the future by seeing players compete who we may not see much of this year, especially at quarterback, you saw what you were looking for.

If you were looking for doom and gloom you saw Phillip Sims go 1-7 for 12 yards and not exactly looking like the superstar he's supposed to be.

But if you wanted to see a bright future, you saw A.J. McCarron go 12-28 for 196 yards in limited play with 2 touchdowns including a last play game winning toss.

He is certainly everything you would want from a number two quarterback and Sims is simply a freshman who should be shopping for Tuxedo rentals for his high school prom instead of competing at the nation's best college football program for a roster spot.

The truth is, Sims is young and will be great after some coaching and grooming and McCarron is great now, not that there'll be any hint of a quarterback controversy this year.

Keep in perspective that in last year's spring game, McElroy's first year under the magnifying glass, he too passed for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

McCarron is a great quarterback now, but McElroy is the starter and without injury, that won't change.

The other big truths that came out of the spring game is there is much work to be done in the critical areas of place kicking, kickoffs and punting. Right now there was a lot less to see to be happy about and much to worry about.

Though Cade Foster did show a glimpse of an iron leg with one kickoff out of the end zone, the rest were mediocre and the place kicking by all the kickers, left much to be desired.

The punting left almost nothing for the optimists to find and some of the punts were abysmal.

In the SEC, where defense and field position so often determine a winner, Alabama has much to worry about as work continues in this area.

But to end on a high note, as you should for a team that is projected to be the best in the land in most of the pre-season polls, the spring game showed fans and the press new players with skills they had hoped to see.

Receivers that aren't household names yet that could be thrown against opponents are Brandon Gibson, Kevin Norwood and Kenny Bell. All showed flashes of greatness.

But the main thing this game showed was the overall talent level at Alabama, with quality depth at almost every position and a reason to relish to present glory and be hopeful for more to come.

You could indeed find what you were looking for in this game, it's results and the stats, but it was far easier for an optimist to find material than the doubters.