We will only know once the season starts considering the A day offense is a shadow sketch of what we will actually run.
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Game Thread: A-Day Game (1pm CDT on ESPN2) & Gameday info
- Thread starter BamaNation
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I don’t have any worries about Sark....... yesterday was real vanilla, and getting a look at how players perform. They aren’t going to show the whole playbook just yet
Hopeful for more balance this season, and I think we will get better usage of the running game
I'm pretty sure he can't actually make Tua be inaccurate, so those two statements can't really be the same thing.
If Tua needs to develop more, he needs to develop more, so if he's being asked to make throws he has more difficulty with that should pay off down the road. It shouldn't be oh hey just do the things you're good at, until Clemson and then whoops...
30-50 The rain hurt the crowd
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thespun.com/college-football/photos-alabamas-spring-game-crowd-is-disappointing/amp
All week the safety apparatuses were warning of heighten weather risk and it was raining before and during the game. I'm pretty sure that halved the turnout.
While I get the lower attendance due to the weather, I also think a lot of people are missing out.
It's not cheap to get into BDS, on any other day... A-Day is the type of event you can take your entire family, see the team, see the stadium, watch Saban roam the sidelines, all of that, and on the cheap. I understand why people aren't traveling from out of state for A-Day, but for people that live in the area? It's a nice experience and it's a low pressure environment. Hopefully they can figure out how to better promote the event better, because honestly at times I've found it to be better experience than some of the games. They've had Heisman trophies on display, they've let you go onto the field, I feel like the people who complain about high costs of other games are really missing out on the chance for a nice, and cheap experience.
Unless something changes gone are the days of A-Day being a recruiting tool, but oh well I guess players aren't the only ones being complacent.
It's not cheap to get into BDS, on any other day... A-Day is the type of event you can take your entire family, see the team, see the stadium, watch Saban roam the sidelines, all of that, and on the cheap. I understand why people aren't traveling from out of state for A-Day, but for people that live in the area? It's a nice experience and it's a low pressure environment. Hopefully they can figure out how to better promote the event better, because honestly at times I've found it to be better experience than some of the games. They've had Heisman trophies on display, they've let you go onto the field, I feel like the people who complain about high costs of other games are really missing out on the chance for a nice, and cheap experience.
Unless something changes gone are the days of A-Day being a recruiting tool, but oh well I guess players aren't the only ones being complacent.
I set up our store on Bryant at 6 am, and it started to come down hard around 7. consider that the storm was going west to east. That's basically forcing the Birmingham, Jackson, and Meridian crowds to drive through storms. Those are the three biggest cities closest to Tuscaloosa to drive through crappy weather to get there. I think that maybe a little much to expect your average fan and their family to risk safety for a free game that wont show you much of anything.
I tend to think the A-Day is pretty overrated in terms of what it is hyped up to be, and the fall open practice is actually the superior event. Ever since Saban got here you get a better experience, at a cheaper price, and more benefits going to the fall scrimmage. IDK how Stallings did things, but from Dubose to Shula autograph and fan interactions with players and staff was done during A day. Saban does the opposite. The fall you get to see a more open play book and get the fan benefits.
But that really brings up an unpopular fact about Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas. If you go to Tuscaloosa youll find a good deal of folks that don't care about Alabama football or football in general. Then you realize that Tuscaloosa County is a huge unincorporated county. The surrounding counties with the exceptions of Jefferson and Walker aren't much different. Tuscaloosa and Northport are the biggest pieces of Tuscaloosa County and they are sister cities. Point is by local populations you are basically talking about and hour away in Birmingham.
A day is usually a hit or miss thing anyways. Had there been no rain we probably would've had 60 to 70. I don't think there is really any incentive to go again for most folks if you've done it once. Ive worked A-Day since 2014 and I can tell you that you can usually tell the crowd size based on if we've won a national championship the year prior. It is usually 60-70k on non championship A-days and 75-80 on championship A-days.
If Saban is really using an A-day crowd size as a recruiting tactic then we are in trouble. Once the record was beat by Ohio State ,who has a larger stadium, I don't think Alabama fans really had a hunger to try to beat it. Hell we haven't 84k+ since 2011.
Point is 30k is a pretty good attendance for a spring game with the weather.
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I think A-Day has kinda got the bad rap of being "Gump Day" where all the non-alum "sidewalk fans" descend upon the town. I don't think the local alums and students support it in the way they did early in the Saban tenure because those types don't want to be around all the hoi polloi.
This is totally accurate. A-Day is fine if you live in town, but it's not worth an entire day, plus being exhausted on Sunday.
There are a lot of serious fans who find the event boring. I'm one of them.
It's definitely a haul for me................3 hours, 21 minutes and 203 miles away.
Concerning yesterday and weather, the rain going to the game was not a problem. It was the tornadic conditions I would have had to drive back through to get home. Chose to stay home and be safe to live another day. First A-Day I have missed in awhile.
I don’t see how Sark could screw up his accuracy? He hasn’t changed his throwing motion. It’s a new offense, with different reads. That’s what spring ball is for. I thought Tua threw the ball well enough. You could tell they were working on certain things, not just playing a scrimmage game. There were no plays setting up plays( which was actually a knock on Sark in Atl) , the running game wasn’t all that it could be and the offensive line needs a little work. Also, some of those touch sacks in the game would not be sacks in live games. I was actually impressed by some of the things the offense accomplished.
Just remember that Tua ran the same offense for a year, with all the timing and reps that comes with that, before he ever took the field in competitive football. He can take the spring lessons and work on them in the summer with receivers, this is a contract year for Tua, Jeudy, Ruggs, Smith and Harris. I expect them to put in the extra work for a high round draft grade!
Dang, I sound just like a Falcon fan during the 2017 season!
I think we both know that weather aside there's been a downward trend in attendance. It peaked when there was overflow before the final expansion, and never actually reached capacity since then (which would have set the record I believe). But it seems like overall there's a bit less each time, the first few times it was a get there early to get a good seat type situation, it's been just a gradual decline and I think this is probably the worst since Saban has been there, correct? I'd give them a mulligan based on weather but it's been years since there's actually been a really good crowd.
As far as recruiting, I don't know how Saban intends to use it but I do know he's alluded to attendance in general in terms of recruiting, and I know I've seen recruits allude to it. For instance, Blake Barnett cited A-Day attendance when he committed, someone had to have told him or he was there right? And that's the other part, there are recruits at the game, and obviously it makes a big difference if it's 80K or 30K, completely different experience. Once again weather is a factor but the downward decline is noticeable.
I'm not just putting that on the fans though, you alluded to part of it. This goes to how much work Alabama puts into making it an event to, but I still don't get why we don't see a more concerted effort to get buses of kids there and things like that. It's a good experience, it's free if you can get parking, and I will reiterate that I feel like people are missing out. I see so much complaining about how expensive it is to get into BDS and then when it's free there's a lot of nah, I don't want to do that...
2011 was the last time it hit 92k. But like I said its usually 60-70k on non championship A-days and 75-80k on championship a-days. Mostly spring games see a spike on flashy new hires and dwindle down. Look at Ohio State and UGA.
Yes but it would've been on par with his usual had we not experienced severe weather. So I don't think this could be counted as a trend. Its the exception not the rule
I highly doubt A-day is a big decider in a recruit coming to Bama. Saban can rag on it being so, and you can cherry pick this guy or that guy saying it, but it doesn't make it true. I just chalk it up as just another Saban vs fans promo. Again we haven't hit 84K since 2011, but Ohio St has done it 5 times since. Who has more championships and 1st round draft picks since then?
If Saban wants A-day to be better then he needs to kill Fan Day and have all of the benefits put on A-day that are currently at Fan Day. Otherwise you are going to have the same ole crowd you've been getting since 2014 that Ive been saying. There is a reason he doesn't do it, and its pretty obvious of why. He just doesn't want to be there all day signing 90-100k people's crap, and he doesn't want fans asking players dumb questions all day. There is a lesser crowd in August due to the heat and he knows the turnout will be around 20k at best.
Some of you are overlooking the amount of stuff going on in spring.
Baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, track, golf.
Prom.
All sort of benefits and city festivals.
Church stuff, especially pre-Easter.
Even fandom has its limits.
Baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, track, golf.
Prom.
All sort of benefits and city festivals.
Church stuff, especially pre-Easter.
Even fandom has its limits.
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