Alabama Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Depending on which way you look at it, Alabama's scrimmage on Saturday was either good or bad for the future of the football team. Good because the offense scored 11 touchdowns and didn't cough the ball up once, and bad because the defense failed to make many stops and didn't generate a single turnover.

Ah, the joy of spring football. When you play against yourself no one really wins. The players simply get to hit one another, and that's a pleasant enough experience.

"Defensively, I guess it’s good and bad news," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "We didn’t create any turnovers but the good news is we didn’t turn it over on offense, so that’s probably a good thing. But we practiced a lot of different situations out there, which is great exposure for our players."

Saturday marked the 12th practice and second scrimmage of the spring for the Crimson Tide. The next scrimmage will be the last when the doors to Bryant-Denny Stadium are swung open on April 20 for A-Day.

And even then, the result of the game-like practice will be the same: either the offense will look spectacular and the defense horrendous, or vice versa.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- AJ McCarron is enjoying himself these days. With so many quarterbacks in camp this spring, he has been able to take a step back and relax. After 40 career games and three national championships, it's a nice change of pace. He's a full-fledged veteran now, and that comes with some perks.

"It helps getting a break," said Alabama's rising senior at quarterback. "It's fun to sit back and watch the younger guys compete, watch them grow. It's going to be a fun spring."

Judging from McCarron's first scrimmage -- he reportedly completed 15 of 28 passes for 291 yards, four touchdowns and one interception Saturday -- his comfort level couldn't be any higher.

But beyond him, the competition at quarterback has been tight. Only five practices remain before A-Day, and the question of who will back up McCarron in 2013 remains unanswered.

Blake Sims won the day at Alabama's first scrimmage this past weekend, coming in second to McCarron in passing yards. Sims, a rising junior, was 13-of-19 for 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception. But it's still far too early to call off the competition for the No. 2 spot at quarterback. Since UA doesn't provide full scrimmage statistics, it's impossible to know how the rest of the crop of young quarterbacks performed. Presumably Phillip Ely, Alec Morris, Cooper Bateman, Parker McLeod and Luke Del Rio took snaps under center. The fact that Sims finished second in passing Saturday simply might have been an indication of the game plan from coaches and not the performance on the field.

"What we’ve tried to do is get everybody an equal opportunity," Saban said after the scrimmage. "But we’ve kind of got to pick who is going to get the reps, trying to pick the four guys who are going to get the reps that particular day -- especially with the ones and the twos.

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Editor's note: From now until the start of spring camp on March 16, TideNation will count down the 12 most intriguing players to watch on the Alabama football roster. Today we look at quarterback Alec Morris.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- When spring practice begins next Saturday and six scholarship quarterbacks trot out to the center of the football field, the competition will officially begin. Only starting quarterback AJ McCarron knows where he'll be Week 1 of the season against Virginia Tech. The rest of the depth chart is a mystery.

Phillip Ely and Blake Sims backed up McCarron during the 2012-13 season, but whatever returns they delivered were mixed at best. Head coach Nick Saban and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier seemed reluctant to turn to the pair. When Alabama led Notre Dame by four touchdowns in the national championship game and the outcome was a virtual lock, McCarron stayed under center rather than yield to his backups and avoid injury.

Ely, a traditional drop-back passer in his second season at Alabama, attempted just four passes in three games. Sims, a threat almost primarily as a runner in the read-option game, threw only 10 times. Experienced, the two are not. And there were many opportunities for them to come on late in games. Alabama averaged a 23.3-point lead after halftime in its 13 victories. The average score by the fourth quarter was Alabama 30, Opponent 7.

On signing day, Saban made it clear the battle to become Alabama's next quarterback after McCarron leaves is already underway. Seniority is no matter, he said. The best indication of who it might be will come this season, when a backup is named.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- AJ McCarron has turned into a bit of an elusive figure on the University of Alabama campus. He's everywhere to be seen and nowhere to be reached.

"I've seen him around," said early enrollee Parker McLeod, one of three freshman quarterbacks Alabama welcomed in January. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to him. He's been busy."

Winning back-to-back national championships and developing into one of college football's best quarterbacks will do that. Publicly dating a supermodel pushes McCarron well into the threshold of celebrity, past the occasional television spot into the realm of obscure media reports on his parking habits.

Cooper Bateman, the former No. 3-ranked passer in the 2013 class, said he hasn't had the opportunity to talk with McCarron much since arriving on campus. When he did, he got a taste of what it was like to be the quarterback at Alabama.

"AJ's on a whole other level," Bateman explained. "He's a celebrity around here.

"But I had the chance during the [championship celebration] parade, we were walking down University and everyone, I mean everyone, is yelling his name over everything. I just asked him if he ever gets used to it. And he said, 'If you have the opportunity you're going to love it. It's the best four or five years of his life.' "

Alabama head coach Nick Saban told Bateman what it would be like to be the quarterback of the Crimson Tide -- on the field.

"When Saban recruited me from the very start, he said we're looking for someone to come in here, learn the offense, know it inside and out so you can manage the game out there on the field," Bateman said. "When you get out there, you don't even need coaches, because you're so well prepared and knowing what you need to do out there."

Bateman, McLeod and preferred walk-on Luke Del Rio might have to wait a few more weeks to get an audience with McCarron, but the time is coming. Spring practice is right around the corner.

McLeod, a former three-star prospect from Georgia, said he's anxious to begin learning under the All-American and All-SEC quarterback.

"He's an outstanding quarterback, one of the best in the country," McLeod said of McCarron. "So I'm really looking forward to spring practice to pick his mind a little bit."

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