In the infant stages of Alabama’s 2015 national championship football season, Robert Foster was an emerging threat.
The 6-foot-2, 191-pound former five-star receiver from Pennsylvania had four catches and a touchdown in the opening win over Wisconsin and another four receptions and a score in the second game against Middle Tennessee State. Foster tore his labrum in the third contest against Ole Miss and was shelved for the rest of the season, but he is recapturing last season’s early success this spring.
Alabama conducted its second spring scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and Foster had four receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
“He made a couple of big plays, which was good to see,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said in a news conference afterward. “I think that helps his confidence in coming off an injury.”
One of Foster’s scores in the scrimmage, which was closed to the media, was from 50 yards out.
Foster, who started the first three games last season before being injured, was the nation’s top receiver in the 2013 signing class according to 247Sports.com and was ranked No. 2 by ESPN. He finished last season with 10 receptions for 116 yards, but that still ranked fourth among Alabama receivers behind Calvin Ridley, ArDarius Stewart and Richard Mullaney, who was a graduate transfer from Oregon State.
Ridley had three catches for 62 yards Saturday, while Stewart had five for 60.
“I think we have three guys who are ahead of the rest,” Saban said of his receiving corps. “I think Cam Sims has had a good spring, and he’s healthy. Robert has struggled this spring because he’s not 100 percent healthy, but he’s gotten better and better, and I was happy to see him make some plays today.”
Sophomore running back Bo Scarbrough, who had nine carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns in last weekend’s first scrimmage, rushed 12 times for 111 yards and a score Saturday. Fellow sophomore Damien Harris had eight carries for 56 yards.
Saban said all of the quarterbacks made good plays but none stood out.
Inside linebacker Reuben Foster led the way defensively with nine tackles, including a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Outside linebacker Ryan Anderson had seven tackles, including two for loss, while linebacker Rashaan Evans also collected seven tackles and had a sack.
Sophomore defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick had five tackles and a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“I think the ones on both sides of the ball played well,” Saban said. “Obviously they can do better things. We’ve got plenty to improve on, but there was better continuity and a lot of improvement.
“We still have a lot of guys that need to learn how to play winning football, which is really taking care of the ordinary things well.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.