Alabama football fans understand spring games can be fun and misleading. Some players shine against second and third units. Quarterbacks are downed by a touch. Game clock operation follows the dictates of Commissioner Nick Saban.
Two particular game components are unaffected by rules constraints – how far and how straight the football can be kicked. The Crimson Tide had problems with both those components last season.
Alabama football excelled in one punting component last season. It was No. 5 in the FBS in Punt Return Defense. It did not take long to cover most of the Tide’s punts because they did not go very far.