TUSCALOOSA Alabamas beleaguered kicking game apparently made significant progress in the last week.

After sounding downright anxious following a less-than-encouraging performance in the teams first scrimmage last Saturday when he said the Crimson Tide really need to work hard on (placekicking) head coach Nick Saban seemed encouraged by what he saw in Saturdays second and final scrimmage.

Senior punter J.K. Scott, who has been getting in occasional placekicking work this offseason, hit a 51-yard field goal during the scrimmage, while freshman Joseph Bulovas and redshirt senior Andy Pappanastos were a combined 4-for-5 on field goals, according to Saban. A few of the field goals came during a 30-minute mid-afternoon downpour that swept through Tuscaloosa.

Your guide to the start of the 2017 high school football season.

"We were much better, Saban said Saturday. JK made a 51-yard field goal. Joseph (Bulovas) kicked two field goals made one, missed one. Andy (Pappanastos) was 3-of-3. We kicked a couple of them when it was pouring down rain. It was really a good sort of situation for us to have to play in.

The rainstorm was a welcomed reprieve on a hot and sweltering August day inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, while also providing Tide players the rare opportunity to work through some in-game adversity.

We've had some good wet ball practices in the fall because we've had quite a few rainy days, but it certainly paid off, Saban said. There may be a certain situation like we had today Missouri, a few years ago, (when we) sat in the locker room for 45 minutes or an hour, came back out and played a game. None of these experiences are bad. They're all good for players to learn how to respond to.

Bulovas, a three-star summer enrollee from Louisiana, arrived as the presumptive favorite to win the starting job as the teams only scholarship kicker, but some early struggles with consistency have made Alabamas kicking situation a little murky.

This offseason, Scott has actually been the Tides most reliable field goal option, including connecting on 3-of-4 in Aprils A-Day spring game.

>> RB Scarbrough pretty sick, misses second straight practice: Junior running back Bo Scarbrough is expected to be a mainstay in the Alabama backfield this season, and is even receiving some early Heisman Trophy buzz.

But that only comes if hes on the field, something he hasnt been able to do of late.

Scarbrough was held out of Saturdays preseason scrimmage and has missed two straight days of practice with an illness thats required considerable bed rest, Saban said Saturday.

Bo has been ill for two days, pretty sick I'm talking about ill enough to be in bed, Saban said. We don't think this is a serious illness or anything like that, but we didn't think it would be good for him to not be in a position where he could be resting.

Meanwhile, sophomore tailback Josh Jacobs also missed Saturdays scrimmage, his second straight, with a hamstring injury thats forcing him to sit out the last week and a half of practice.

I don't know he's still day-to-day when he'll be able to come back and keep working, Saban said of Jacobs.

In more serious news, senior walk-on receiver Donnie Lee Jr. reportedly suffered a torn ACL during Saturdays scrimmage, according to BamaOnline.com.

Donnie Lee (Jr.), who has been a very productive, good team player for us, got a knee injury, Saban said of Lee Jr., a native of nearby Northport. We'll have to confirm the seriousness of that for us with an MRI, (but) that's about it for us from an injury standpoint.

>> Saban not concerned with solar eclipse: An important part of Nick Sabans daily ritual includes eating a Little Debbie oatmeal crme pie, drinking a cup of coffee and watching 10-15 minutes of the Weather Channel during a quick breakfast.

Its because of that routine that Alabamas 65-year-old head coach is already had his fill of the solar eclipse, which is expected to take place on Monday over Tuscaloosa around 1:30 p.m. and end shortly before 3.

I watch the Weather Channel every day, they're already saying what it's going to be like in every city in America, Saban said Saturday. So what's going to be significant? You can watch the Weather Channel, you can see what it's going to be like in Portland, Ore. Clayton, Ga., is the No. 1 place in the country. I'm going to watch it on TV.

Despite his ho-hum attitude toward Mondays solar eclipse, Saban joked hell probably allow players to view it from the team facility prior to Mondays mid-afternoon practice, which will get started about 2:30 p.m.

"We'll set it up so if the players want to go out there and get some sunglasses and look at it, I guess they can, Saban said. That's not something that I'm really that focused on right now. Maybe we'll have a team meeting about how we're going to do this. I haven't thought of that yet."

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Kicking game makes progress in 2nd scrimmage for Tide - Dothan Eagle