SEC spring games: Quarterbacks shine for Bama, UGA, Auburn

Georgia photo by Andrew Davis Tucker / Georgia freshman receiver Adonai Mitchell hauls in a touchdown reception with Lewis Cine defending during Saturday's G-Day game inside Sanford Stadium.
Georgia photo by Andrew Davis Tucker / Georgia freshman receiver Adonai Mitchell hauls in a touchdown reception with Lewis Cine defending during Saturday's G-Day game inside Sanford Stadium.

There were a lot of numbers to digest during Alabama's A-Day spring football game Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Just not a lot of points.

Will Reichard's 19-yard field goal with 1:23 remaining propelled the White to a 13-10 victory over the Crimson before an announced crowd of 47,218. Reichard went 14-for-14 on field-goal attempts last season, when the Crimson Tide won their sixth national title of the Nick Saban era, but the junior kicker was just 2-for-5 Saturday, missing from 52, 48 and 33 yards.

Saban didn't seem too bothered by that, as Alabama wrapped up its 15 spring practices after not getting to conduct the first one last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

"We made a lot of progress," the Alabama coach said after the ESPN-televised contest on a Zoom call. "I'm not satisfied with where we are, and we have a lot of work to do as a team, but I'm certainly looking forward to taking every opportunity that we have to improve our team and continue to improve our players. This was a fun game. We made a lot of mistakes - dropped balls, turnovers, explosive plays called back because of pre-snap penalties, illegal formations - but these are all things that can get fixed.

"There were a lot of good things out there as well."

One of those good things was sophomore quarterback Bryce Young, who earned the game's MVP honor with a 25-of-44 passing performance that yielded 333 yards and a touchdown. Young did endure three down-by-contact sacks.

"I think he did a good job," Saban said. "In a game like today, there are a lot more drop-back passes just by the way you sort of plan the game. You only have a minimal number of plays when you run the ball, so some of the issues we have in the offensive line resulted in the pocket collapsing on him, and he was in some tough situations relative to that, but I think he's done a really good job all spring.

"We will continue to work on him kind of having a presence out there that affects other people in a positive way, and I think he's starting to get more and more respect from the other players by the way he plays. Every scrimmage we had, he performed very, very well, and I thought he performed well today."

Sophomore receiver Traeshon Holden had nine catches for 89 yards to pace the White team, while redshirt junior Slade Bolden added five for 56.

"I think Bryce has put in a lot of effort this spring in understanding the offense," Bolden said. "He's shown some leadership skills, and he's done a great job of executing."

Junior defensive back Demarco Hellams led the Crimson with 12 tackles and a forced fumble.

The A-Day attendance could wind up being the highest of any program nationally in a spring game this year, given the continuing pandemic, but it was the smallest of the 14 that have been staged since Saban's arrival in 2007.

Mitchell a G-Day star

Georgia sixth-year football coach Kirby Smart was in a good mood after Saturday's G-Day contest, citing the combination of a good atmosphere and no major injuries inside Sanford Stadium.

Junior quarterback JT Daniels picked right up from where he finished last season, completing 28 of 41 passes for 324 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Red to a 28-23 topping of the Black before 20,524. The favorite target for Daniels was early enrollee Adonai Mitchell, who racked up seven catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Mitchell is a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder who played at Cane Ridge High School in the Nashville suburb of Antioch as a junior and was a three-star prospect in the 2021 cycle.

"He's very twitchy and has a really good understanding of how to get in and out of breaks, which I think makes a good case for him when he's one on one," Daniels said. "That's part of it, and another part is him being in the X position, which gives him a lot of one-on-one opportunities to win."

Said Smart: "Adonai all spring competed really well. He's a competitor who makes plays down the field. For a guy who enrolled and just got here, I thought he did a great job."

Among the 28 completions by Daniels were 12 checkdowns to his stable of talented running backs.

"I love throwing the ball deep, and you see that a lot," Daniels said, "but when you have James (Cook), Zamir (White), Kendall (Milton) and all the guys we have, I think checkdowns are the most underrated and underappreciated aspect of our offense. They're easy to throw, and it's very, very rare that the first guy tackles any of our running backs.

"In that two-minute drive against Cincinnati, we had a pass to George (Pickens) and then four or five checkdowns in a row. It's really just taking what the defense gives you, and we trust our running backs to make people miss them."

photo Auburn photo by Todd Van Emst / Auburn football players surround first-year coach Bryan Harsin after Saturday's A-Day game inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Harsin's first A-Day

The first A-Day of Auburn's Bryan Harsin era is in the books, with Auburn defeating the Tigers 17-3 Saturday before an announced crowd of 25,210 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Sophomore running back Tank Bigsby rushed seven times for 64 yards and was named MVP, while junior quarterback Bo Nix completed 12 of 20 passes for 112 yards. Nix also rushed five times for 29 yards for the Auburn team, which was comprised mostly of first-teamers.

"Bo made good decisions," Harsin said. "I thought Coach (Mike) Bobo did a good job of really challenging him and making him operate, and that's what you want to see from your quarterback. He's a weapon.

"He's got the ability to extend plays and make plays. He did that today."

Saturday actually marked the 14th of 15 spring practices for the Tigers, who will conclude Monday.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.

Upcoming Events