Practice Report: Alabama Set to Wrap Up Fall Camp with Final Scrimmage

Crimson Tide holds final full workout prior to camp-closing scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium

Christopher Walsh | Sep 10, 2020

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It's the final big test of fall camp.

The University of Alabama football team worked out for two hours inside the Hank Crisp Facility on Thursday as it continued to ramp things up for its final preseason scrimmage. Conditions outside were partly cloudy and 89 degrees, with a heat index of 97.

The Crimson Tide will hold a walk-through on Friday, with the scrimmage set for Saturday.

"It’s very important, especially for the D-line," Phidarian Mathis told reporters on a Zoom teleconference earlier Thursday. "[We're] kind of young. We got a lot to learn. Especially with those younger guys, just coming together and just forming as a team. We can take this and just role with it."

The scrimmage is the final opportunity for both players trying to pin down roles for the season-opener against Missouri, set for Sept. 26, and coaches to try different combinations in a game-like setting.

"A lot of guys didn’t play as well as we’d like in the first scrimmage," said Nick Saban when talking about the quarterbacks earlier this week, but we made a huge improvement to the next Saturday.

"Hopefully, we’ll make another big jump this Saturday."

The scrimmage will be the conclusion of not only the extended fall camp, but a two-week grind to build up for the regular season. Coaches will ease off the accelerator next week, but start installing the game plan by the weekend as the team goes into regular-season mode.

Alabama is set to play a 10-game SEC-only schedule over 11 weeks.

Players will have next weekend off, which will be their only break until Nov. 7, assuming the Crimson Tide doesn't have any games rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Published Sep 10, 2020

CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.