Tide Football Completes Second Scrimmage
8/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
The University of Alabama football had its second scrimmage of the season and it was the defense's turn to shine.
"I thought for our second scrimmage it went really well and I thought we looked real good on defense," head coach Mike Shula. "We talked all week about defensively about just finishing plays and more guys getting to the ball faster and I think that showed up. The first team defense looked real good against our second team offense."
Senior Anthony Madison led the defense with six tackles followed by freshman Chris Rodgers who tallied five. Sophomore Wallace Gilberry had the biggest day recording four tackles, three of which were sacks (-27). He was also credited with a quarterback pressure.
The defense posted eight sacks and five other tackles for loss. Freshman Lionel Mitchell had perhaps the biggest play of the scrimmage when he stepped in front of a Brodie Croyle pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.
"Offensively, whenever the ball is on the ground, whether it's a dropped ball, or a fumbled snap, we had a couple drops there that could have been big plays, it just kind of takes the wind out of everybody's sails," said Shula. "I think that's what happened offensively is that we had a chance to make big plays, which we did last week, and we didn't do it. Guys got a little frustrated and we missed a couple other assignments up front and it just looked ugly that way from that point of view, especially in the first part of the scrimmage."
Junior Tyrone Prothro was the recipient of Croyle's lone touchdown pass, a 16-yard strike in the left corner of the end zone.
Croyle finished the scrimmage 16 of 34 for 137 yards, one interception and a touchdown. Freshmen Roy Upchurch and Glen Coffee were the leading rushers with 40 yards each, Upchurch on six carries, Coffee on nine. Upchurch also reach the end zone twice, while Coffee ran for one score.
The Tide kickers were on today, hitting 5-6 on field goal attempts. Sophomore Jaime Christensen was 3-3 with a long of 46, while senior Ryan Saxby was 2-3 with a long of 31 yards.
Among the approximate 4,000 fans in attendance today was the undefeated 1945 Rose Bowl championship team who was in town for a reunion. Former All-American Harry Gilmer was among those present and gave the Tide a pre-scrimmage talk.
SATURDAY SCRIMMAGE STATS
August 20, 2005
RUSHING
| ATTS | NET | TD | LNG | |
| Upchurch | 6 | 40 | 2 (26,1) | 26 |
| Coffee | 9 | 40 | 1 (9) | 19 |
| Darby | 3 | 36 | 33 | |
| T.Castille | 3 | 12 | 5 | |
| J.Johns | 7 | 6 | 6 | |
| Guillon | 3 | (-5) | ||
| Croyle | 2 | (-21) | ||
| Wilson | 3 | (-25) |
PASSING
| ATT | COMP | YDS | INT | TD | LNG | |
| Croyle | 34 | 16 | 137 | 1 | 1 (16) | 20 |
| Wilson | 14 | 6 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Guillon | 9 | 5 | 25 | 11 | 0 | |
| Barnes | 3 | 2 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
RECEIVING
| REC | YDS | TD | LNG | |
| Prothro | 4 | 60 | 1 (16) | 20 |
| Hall | 6 | 41 | 0 | 9 |
| McKnight | 2 | 17 | 0 | 10 |
| Barger | 1 | 13 | 0 | |
| Caddell | 1 | 12 | 0 | |
| Upchurch | 3 | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| Coffee | 1 | 11 | 0 | |
| Castille | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| Oakley | 1 | 7 | 0 | |
| Knight | 1 | 7 | 0 | |
| Hoke | 1 | 6 | 0 | |
| McLain | 1 | 6 | 0 | |
| Bennett | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Miller | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| Darby | 1 | 3 | 0 |
FIELD GOALS
| Christensen | 3-3 (46, 34, 36) |
| Saxby | 2-3 (21, 31) |
TACKLES
| Madison | 6 | |
| Rogers | 5 | |
| Gilberry | 4, 3 sacks (11,9, 7), 1 QB pressure | |
| Carter | 4 1 sack (7) | |
| Wingto | 4 | |
| Kilpatrick | 4, 1 TFL (1) | |
| J.Johnson | 4, 1 sack (4) | |
| Ryans | 3, 1 TFL (4) | |
| McDaniel | 3 | |
| J.Britt | 3, 1 sack (9), 1 FR | |
| S.Castille | 2, 1 PBU | |
| Greenwood | 2, 1 TFL (4) | |
| Hall | 2, 2 QB pressures | |
| Ballard | 2, 1 QB pressure | |
| Simpson | 2 | |
| Waldrop | 2 | |
| Schreiber | 2 | |
| Stamps | 2, 1 TFL (1) | |
| Mitchell | 2, 1 Int. (TD), 2 PBU | |
| Jones | 1, 1 sack (8), 1 interception | |
| Adams | 1, 1 sack (5) | |
| Lee | 1, 1 sack (8) | |
| Kulback | 1 | |
| Saunders | 1 | |
| Griffin | 1 | |
| Anders | 1 | |
| Roach | 1, 1 TFL (3) | |
| Dukes | 1 | |
| Reamer | 0, 2 PBU |
