Ad Disclosure
SEC Coaches Teleconference: Nick Saban discusses Bo Scarbrough
By John Crist
Published:
While quarterback Jalen Hurts was enjoying a breakout performance, Bo Scarbrough didn’t get a lot of press after the 52-6 beatdown of USC.
Scarbrough, supposedly the next great running back at Alabama following the departure of Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, totaled 11 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown against the Trojans. His TD came late in garbage time.
It was another former five-star tailback recruit who stole Scarbrough’s headlines in Arlington, as Damien Harris ran for 138 yards on just 9 attempts. While nobody expects either to replace Henry by himself, they have more than enough talent combined to get the job done as a tandem.
Speaking on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday, ‘Bama coach Nick Saban reminded reporters of Scarbrough’s inexperience.
“We’re encouraged by the progress that Bo is making,” he said. “We’d like for him to continue to make a significant contribution for us. I think that was basically Bo’s first game where he played a bunch. We weren’t disappointed at all in the way he played, but I think attention to detail in some things would probably help him have more success. That’s why we practice, and that’s why were going to continue to try to help him improve on those things, so that he can have the kind of success that he’d like to have.”
Saban wants Scarbrough to ignore the talk about him possibly being another Henry or Mark Ingram, who both won a Heisman for the Tide.
“I think expectations are an external factor that players have to put out of their mind and understand that whether it’s in preparation, how you manage your roles, you’ve got to focus on the main thing,” he said. “Keep the main thing the main thing, which is what will happen if you go out and execute and play well. That’s going to give me the best opportunity to get the results that I want. So creating anxiety for somebody’s expectation or what somebody thinks I ought to do is not beneficial to performance at all, and we try to get our players to understand that.”
More than likely, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin will rotate Scarbrough and Harris liberally Saturday against Western Kentucky.
bielema: ‘he’s just got a maturity to him’
One of the few quality matchups in Week 2, as most of the SEC is enjoying Cupcake Saturday, Arkansas travels to No. 15 TCU.
The Razorbacks will see a familiar face leading the Horned Frogs, as former Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill is now the starter in Ft. Worth. Back in 2014 at AT&T Stadium, he threw for 386 yards and 4 TDs in a 35-28 win over the Hogs.
Hill’s rise and fall happened in the blink of an eye in College Station. Taking over for former Heisman Trophy winner and resident rockstar Johnny Manziel, he quickly assembled a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 17-to-2 in getting A&M off to a 5-0 start. But three losses and 6 INTs later, he got benched for good.
According to Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, the Hill he sees playing for TCU coach Gary Patterson is better than the one from two season ago.
“He’s a much-improved player, not that he wasn’t a bad player to begin with,” he said. “He was a good player that ended up beating us. But now in Gary’s system and offensively what they do, I think it fits him very, very well. He’s efficient.
“He does three things well. I think he throws the ball better than he has. He’s running the ball with efficiency if he has to, not if he needs to. I think they really do a good job trying to manage that. He’s very elusive in the pocket, which allows him to create plays behind the line of scrimmage looking for any big plays down the field.”
Hill didn’t take his demotion with the Aggies well and transferred at the first opportunity, which earned him a reputation for being selfish.
“Bigger than anything, he’s just got a maturity to him,” Bielema said. “Whatever happens, he lines up and plays the next play. He’s a very accomplished player, very gifted. He’s going to be a tremendous task for us on Saturday.”
sumlin: ‘people saw us huddle for the first time in about five years’
So many teams today run some form of a hurry-up offense. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin has been at the forefront of that movement for years.
When it’s working, points can be scored at a dizzying pace. Play calls are relatively simple, as they’re quickly flashed from the sideline. Most important, it can tucker out any defense in a hurry and also prevent situational substitutions.
On the other hand, when it’s not working, the downside is steeper than a more conventional system — one that actually takes the play clock into consideration. Few things are harder on a defense than its own offense going three-and-out in 30 seconds of game time. Any chance to recover from the previous possession gets thrown out the window.
The Aggies, coming off a big win over then-No. 16 UCLA in Week 1, alternated back and forth between speeding up and slowing down.
“I think, for us, we’ve seen both sides of it,” Sumlin said. “As long as you’re making first downs, tempo’s great. When you’re not, you’re giving the ball right back to the other team and really pressing your defense into a lot of action. As long as you’re making first downs and moving the chains, tempo’s great.”
The last thing Sumlin wanted to do was give more opportunities to Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen, who threw for 343 yards.
“Our approach has probably been a little bit different,” he said. “We’ve been as fast a team as there has been in the country. We’ve had to slow down with some defensive issues, but I think Saturday you saw us change paces a couple of different times and go really fast. I think people saw us huddle for the first time in about five years. It can be a great thing, but if you’re not making first downs, it can be a detriment.”
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
John Crist is an award-winning contributor to Saturday Down South.
