Quarterback shuffle not working for Tide

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Earlier this week, Arkansas' new giant video display board at Reynolds Razorback Stadium sent a signal that was interpreted as a distress call from a downed aircraft.
Alabama hopes to avoid sending a similar signal from its distressed air attack when the Crimson Tide plays at Razorback Stadium tonight.
"Our passing game hasn't been what we thought it would be this year," Alabama junior quarterback Andrew Zow said. "It's hard to pinpoint the problem."
With two quarterbacks with starting experience -- Zow and sophomore Tyler Watts -- returning for the defending SEC champions along with the top three wide receivers and four starters on the offensive line, Alabama's passing game figured to be formidable.
But going into tonight's game, the Tide (1-2) has zero touchdown passes -- that's eight fewer than Kentucky freshman Jared Lorenzen in the same number of games -- and ranks 113th nationally in passing efficiency.
The passing-game woes have caused the Tide's quarterback situation to become more muddled as the season has progressed, rather than be cleared up as the coaches had hoped.
Zow, who has a stronger arm than Watts and started 17 games the previous two seasons, opened this season as the starter.
But after the Tide lost at UCLA and was struggling in its second game against Vanderbilt -- and Zow had four fumbles on quarterback-center exchanges, Watts came off the bench to help lead Alabama to a 28-10 victory. Running the option was a big part of Watts' success.
Watts then started against Southern Mississippi last week, and the Tide suffered a 21-0 loss as it gained only 217 yards in total offense and crossed the Golden Eagles' 40-yard line just twice.
Watts completed 11 of 16 passes -- but for only 57 yards -- and was sacked four times. Zow came off the bench in the fourth quarter and completed 8 of 18 passes for 65 yards to drive the Tide into scoring range, but threw an interception.
DuBose said Watts will keep the starting job for the Arkansas game because he did what the coaches asked him to do.
"I could not blame Tyler for the lack of consistency, because when we asked him to throw it, most of the time he went to the right area and threw catchable balls," DuBose said. "But we had too many dropped passes."
Tide senior guard Griff Redmill said the players are confident in Watts, but that he sometimes needs to let passing plays develop longer before taking off and running.
"He's just got to settle down," Redmill said. "I mean, I'm not a quarterback coach or anything, but in my opinion, he seems a little jumpy in wanting to jump the gun and pull it down at times.
"But that's just going to come with more game experience, more live action and he'll get better as time goes on."
Watts said last week's shutout hasn't shaken his confidence.
"I'm not going to lose confidence, I can't afford to," he said. "I've just got to go back to work."
Redmill said Watts, who is used to pressure after competing in the Tide's well-publicized quarterback derby, will bounce back against Arkansas.
"That's just the kind of guy Tyler is," Redmill said. "He's dealt with a lot of things since he's been at the Capstone, and he's handled them all really well. He can persevere through just about anything."

This article was published on Saturday, September 23, 2000

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