Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said his staff would make a decision Thursday about how Alabama quarterbacks A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims will be used in the Penn State game.

“Both guys are working hard, and both guys have a good attitude about what they are trying to do,” Alabama football coach Nick Saban said. “Both guys are preparing well for the game.”

Also related to the quarterback situation, Saban said the team is improving on its timing between quarterbacks and receivers. He said the team is also adjusting to adding Duron Carter to preparation work this week and next week the team returns Darius Hanks.

“We have made progress,” Saban said. “I think we threw the ball really well in practice (Tuesday).”

Saban said this should improve with experience as young players get past some of the jitters or concerns that distract them from focusing on what they should be doing to “dominate who they are playing against.”

Focus is a major theme this week. Alabama is getting ready for the noise of a hostile Big Ten environment. Alabama piped in noise to simulate the crowd and challenges expected at Beaver Stadium.

“We are working on it,” Saban said. “We are improving on it.”

Saban said there is a psychological element to getting ready to play on the road.

“We really are trying to get our team prepared to play on the road and psychologically have what it takes to stay focused when you play on the road against good teams,” Saban said. “This is going to be a real challenge and a test of maturity. We are playing against a very good team.”

Alabama’s Nick Saban said there were no injuries or personnel changes to report heading into the final practice session before the Penn State game.

Saban indicated fans should expect no changes to the starting offensive line from last week’s game.

3 thoughts on “Alabama’s Saban to make decision Thursday on Alabama quarterback plan”

  1. Penn St fans are thinking the rainy conditions will give them an advantage. Funny, I kind thought it rained more in Alabama than Pennsylvania, thought it might give us an advantage. Alternating QB’s is not what bothers me near as much as both QB’s tendancies to throw ill advised passes last week. As for Phillip, with his feet if he had tucked it and ran more he wouldn’t have been hit or pressured into either of those Int’s. Sure it was first game jitters, but there’s no guarantee that that will pass in just one week, much less in a Happy Valley environment against Penn St. Here’s hoping. RTR!

  2. Really hope the O-line woes are worked out for Sat….McCarron is by far the better qb at this point…enough of the 2 qb race.

  3. Rainy games hurt the passing game mostly, and can slow down the running game. Both teams have to play in it, though. Penn St. should have an advantage playing at home, and the rain could help slow the Bama defense down. But I still think Bama has overall better talent on both sides of the ball, and should still win comfortably.

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