Alabama quarterback Jake Coker
Alabama head coach Nick Saban applauds on the sidelines.Alabama’s first football scrimmage of the preseason Saturday included roughly 10 plays in which the Crimson Tide focused on stopping no-huddle offenses.
“It is hard to simulate when you’re not a no-huddle team, but our team is capable of being a no-huddle team,” coach Nick Saban said in his post-practice news conference. “So we practice that against each other because it’s the best way we can get the best look.”
Heavy rain and lightning interrupted the scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium for about 40 minutes.
Saban had not been discussing the no-huddle long when he said the media makes “way too much of this.” Alabama was 11-0 last year but ended with losses at Auburn (34-28) and in the Sugar Bowl to Oklahoma (45-31), two teams that quickened the pace.
“In the last game,” Saban said in reference to Auburn, “the team had 21 points against us with 30 seconds left, and I don’t think anyone held them to 21 points all year long. I saw them score 60 in the SEC championship game or whatever. We shut Ole Miss (another no-huddle team) out here.