Spring break came and went. With little notice, so did the Spring Football Game.
The Purple team defeated the White team, 24-21, before 8,002 fans at Tiger Stadium on Friday, April 11. The game was the Friday before the break to avoid a clash with the annual week long holiday.
Because of the spoils of victory, the Purple team now gets treated to a steak dinner with all the trimming while the White team has to eat franks and beans on paper plates .
Saban said a Spring Game can only be so much of a barometer, but he said three things the team set out to do this spring were accomplished.
“We felt like we turned the ball over too much last year on offense,” Saban said. “We wanted to make more big plays, so in each scrimmage we were able to do that. Defensively, we wanted to give up less big plays. Of course, when you are playing against yourself, if one team succeeds, the other team fails. And we wanted to improve the quarterback efficiency based on last year. I was really pleased with that. Those three things were all things that we improved on.”
The Purple team, led by strong performances by receiver Devery Henderson and running back Shyrone Carey, jumped out to a 24-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, and was able to fend off a late comeback by the White squad.
Henderson caught seven balls for 146 yards and a 64-yard touchdown, and Carey carried the ball 18 times for 59 yards and a score.
Coach Nick Saban said he took the team’s performance for what it was worth.
“Spring Games are Spring Games,” Saban said. “Especially when you split up the teams, it is a little more difficult to get a feel for the team. I think that the individual players on the team are what ultimately makes the team up, and I think that is what is most important.”
Saban said he was impressed with many individual performances, including a majority of the receiving corps.
Receiver Michael Clayton also had a strong game for the White team, hauling in seven balls for 131 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Joseph Addai led all rushers, pounding out 91 yards on seven carries, including a 42-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game that put the White team up 7-0.
Saban was especially impressed by Henderson, who is still recovering from a broken arm suffered in last year’s Ole Miss game. He wore a red no-contact jersey.
“Devery has really had an outstanding spring,” Saban said. “He showed a lot of toughness because there is not one incident that I could ever recall throughout the spring that he ever worried about his arm or any of that, and he had a very serious injury. He went out there and made a tremendous amount of progress as a receiver.”
The scoring started early, and contrary to most Spring Games, happened rather often.
After Matt Mauck threw an interception to cornerback Ronnie Prude of the White team, Joseph Addai took advantage two plays later with his long run.
The Purple team answered quickly, marching 75 yards in 11 plays, capped off by a five-yard Carey touchdown.
That is when the scoring run started. The Purple team reeled off 17 consecutive points,and with 11:45 remaining in the game, led 24-7.
Quarterback Marcus Randall led the White team on two straight touchdown drives, including a 19-play, 97-yard march capped by a Clayton four-yard touchdown catch, pulling them to within three points with 13 seconds remaining.
The Purple team was able to cover the onside kick and preserve the victory.
Mauck led the Purple team, completing 7-of-12 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown and an interception.
Randall took a majority of the snaps for the White team, and he completed 16-of-34 passes for 250 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.