"Four downs: Talking Amari Cooper, AJ McCarron's pursuit of Alabama history and more"

[WALL-E]

Four downs: Talking Amari Cooper, AJ McCarron's pursuit of Alabama history and more

By Andrew Gribble | agribble@al.com
Published October 14, 2013, 12:41:14 AM

An offense-themed edition of this weekly installment on the AL.com Alabama football page. Read more...

[Chechem]

In all of the positives that emerged from Saturday's rout of Kentucky, Cooper's return to Alabama's passing attack was among the biggest....

On Saturday, Cooper received his first start since the season opener. He was targeted four times and ultimately finished with three catches for 64 yards. Cooper actually caught the lone incompletion, but he wasn't able to keep a foot fully in bounds. All of his receptions were good for more than 10 yards. Three of the nine receptions he had before Saturday did not crack double digits. His 42-yard reception in the third quarter was twice as long as his previous long on the year.

It was a bounce-back performance -- ...

 

[Jamos]

Welcome back Amari, we've missed you.

[2Stater]

It was great to see him play well. I hope his toe/foot is completely healed. We will certainly need him down the stretch.

[Catch Prothro]

After throwing for a career-high 359 yards Saturday, McCarron is just 618 shy of Wilson's Alabama record for all-time passing yards (7,924). With the way Alabama's passing attack has looked over the past few games, is it unrealistic to think that this record could be broken before LSU comes to town?

Because we like chronological breakdowns in this weekly segment, here's a quick glance at McCarron's numbers after the first six games of each of his seasons as Alabama's starting quarterback.

2011: 98-150, 1,156 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs
2012: 89-132, 1,170 yards, 12 TDs, 0 INTs
2013: 111-161, 1,407 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs

The quick takeaway we glean from those numbers is this: McCarron is mixing the short game he utilized in 2011 with the long game he had early in 2012. That's the whole "taking what the defense is giving you" thing that McCarron has seemingly mastered in his final year at Alabama.

Here's his historic numbers against Arkansas and Tennessee, the Crimson Tide's next two opponents. They provide more reasons to believe this record either will be accomplished completely before or early in the game vs. LSU.

Arkansas: 26-36, 389 yards, 3 TDs
Tennessee: 37-51, 656 yards, 6 TDs, INT
 

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