SportsLine wire reports
April 12, 1999

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Most fans anticipated seeing some heavy hitting in Saturday's spring football scrimmage at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but a bench-clearing brawl was probably a little beyond their expectations.

One occurred nevertheless, when sophomore receiver Jason McAddley and cornerback Chris Reier got tangled up after a play early in the scrimmage. The two shoved each other back and forth after whistles blew, until eventually coming to blows themselves. The offense was soon fighting beside McAddley while the defense rushed to Reier's side in a scene that resembled a battle royal presented by the World Wrestling Federation.

Whistles still blowing, Tide head coach Mike DuBose entered the fray as a peacemaker, and soon tempers were calmed. Moments later, the Tide resumed its 120-play two-and-a-half-hour scrimmage, with only a few minor skirmishes the rest of the way.

"I thought there was some intensity on the field," DuBose said. "I didn't like the fighting, but I liked the intense atmosphere. We made some plays and I am convinced we will be a good offensive team, and I think we will be a good defensive team as well."

THE FORMAT OF THE GAME WAS SIMPLY offense versus defense and, as generally occurs in pre-season practices, the latter of the two dominated the majority of the action. The Tide did manage three touchdowns, however, with one coming from the arm of Andrew Zow, and the other two from scampers by junior tailback Shaun Bohannon.

Zow completed 10 of 18 passes in the game, for a total of 135 yards. He was intercepted once. Zow's main competition for the starting job, freshman Tyler Watts, threw 11 passes, completing five for 57 yards. Zow took considerably more snaps in the game, as the starter played in every other series while the back-up quarterbacks rotated in with each other for their snaps.

Sophomore Eric Locke led the Tide in receiving, catching six passes for 87 yards. He also had two carries for 32 yards.

In the running game, most of the focus was on finding a back-up to preseason Heisman candidate Shaun Alexander. Both Bohannon and Ahmaad Galloway had strong games and appear to be serious contenders for the position. Bohannon rolled up 74 yards on the day and Galloway gathered 65.

The Tide's special teams showed signs of promise, but also showed the same weakness they have been plagued by for the past two years: blocked kicks. Ryan Pflugner had an excellent success rate when his kicks made it past the line of scrimmage and one even connected from 50 yards out.

Unfortunately for Pflugner, the hands of opposing defenders kept several of his kicks from sailing through the uprights.

STILL, DUBOSE SAID HE was pleased with his kicker and the overall play of his team.

"I liked the tempo," DuBose said, "and I was especially pleased with Ryan Pflugner's 50-yard field goal. Overall, I would say it was a good day.

"We had a good scrimmage, considering we were somewhat lacking with three receivers missing, but that allowed us to focus on the running game."

Tide receivers Freddie Milons, Shamari Buchanan and Sam Collins missed the scrimmage due to injury, as did Tide safety Tony Dixon.