Midfield Scuffle: Previewing Alabama With Roll Bama Roll’s Brent Taylor
FB: Roll Bama Roll’s Brent Taylor breaks down the Hilltoppers’ season opening opponent: the Alabama Crimson.
After a handful of programs got to kickstart their season this past weekend, it’s now officially game week for the Hilltoppers as they begin a new year.
Monday, Tyson Helton officially named Texas State transfer TJ Finley the starting quarterback, a move that was surprising in name only, as the Tops look to shock the world by escaping Week 1 with a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
It’s a season of change in Tuscaloosa, with Nick Saban no longer patrolling the sidelines but a national-championship pedigree head coach looks to continue the tradition of title runs in T-Town.
To break it all down from a Crimson Tide perspective, Roll Bama Roll’s Brent Taylor was kind enough to answer our most pressing questions as we cram ahead of kickoff Saturday.
After you read Brent’s answers, be sure you give the RBR crew a follow on Twitter to follow Saturday’s festivities from the Bama perspective.
The Towel Rack: For anyone who may be just tuning into the Crimson Tide after a long offseason, what has been the TL;DR on Bama’s spring?
Roll Bama Roll: Well, for one thing, in case someone just tuning in happened to miss it, Nick Saban retired, and Alabama is breaking in an entire new coaching staff for the first time since 2007. Freshman All-American safety Caleb Downs left for Ohio State in the transfer portal, but the Tide pulled in the reigning Groza award winner in Graham Nicholson, an All-American center in Parker Brailsford, and a couple of former five-star recruits from USC and Michigan in the secondary with Domani Jackson and Keon Sabb, all while shipping off the center who couldn't snap the ball correctly to Ohio State. A whole lot of good there!
A little more realistically, Alabama lost a lot of depth in the secondary. It seemed like that entire part of the team transferred out as soon as Saban left, so there's a lot of unknowns there. The offense returns most of the best players from last year's team and significantly upgraded in offensive scheme, so we're mostly bullish there, but the secondary definitely has fans nervous.
TTR: National titles are always the expectation in T-Town. This year, the Tide will look to reach that goal with a new man blowing the whistle. What does Kalen DeBoer bring to Alabama?
RBR: First and foremost, DeBoer brings an absurd winning percentage from every single stop of his coaching career. He's also the architect of the best offense in college football last year, so combining that with Alabama's returning talent is exciting, to say the least. There's also something of hope I have that Alabama will finally get a good scheme advantage for the next year or so - every team in college football just spent 15 years studying Nick Saban's schemes and gameplanning for them, so suddenly changing everything up is (hopefully) going to put opponents behind the curve for a little while.
Finally, we're also all hoping that a fresh injection of modern ideas about running a program mixed with Alabama's current resources will be an awesome marriage. So yeah, I still want national titles.
That said...You don't have the best coach of all time for 17 years and not expect any drop off - no matter how excited you are about the new coach.
TTR: Is Jalen Milroe primed for a big second year as Alabama’s starter or is what we saw last year what Alabama fans are expecting again?
RBR: The hope is that Milroe can really blossom under an offensive scheme that isn't as...messy...as what we saw from Tommy Rees's offense last year. He's got the arm, the legs, the accuracy, and the leadership all down. But his pocket presence was absolutely atrocious in 2023. Fix that, and he can be awesome. The question is: Will he? And that's a total unknown at this point.
TTR: Who are three under-the-radar names, on either side of the ball, WKU fans should keep an eye and ear out for?
RBR: Watch for RB Justice Haynes. He played a little as a true freshman last year and had some nice runs against Michigan, but was fourth on the depth chart to older players. He's now expected to be part of a two-man rotation with Jam Miller, and many of us expect him to become a superstar.
I also think WR Kobe Prentice is really going to step things up a notch after two years as a solid No. 3 option. He's got the speed, experience, and hands, now we just hope that more volume will lead to big statistical output for the junior.
Finally, on defense, edge rusher Keanu Koht has barely played in his first three seasons, but has been drawing rave reviews all preseason. We don't even know if he's going to be a starter yet, but he could be an exciting breakout candidate.
TTR: What is the “mood” from Bama fans around WKU? Is Saturday expected to be a cake walk or are Tide fans anxious the Tops might get an early jump?
RBR: I don't think there's too much anxiety. Obviously there's a little bit of trepidation about the unknown of having a new head coach for the first time in so long, but it's hard to see WKU being much of a threat in the season opener. I think most Alabama fans view this as a warm up game as the Tide gets set to tangle with Georgia a couple of weeks later.
TTR: A good number of WKU fans are planning to trek to Tuscaloosa for the game. How can they do game day in Druid City?
RBR: Tailgating is always the big draw here, and just getting onto campus and spending time around the quad and watching all the parties going on is a grand time. If you're in town early enough for breakfast, the Waysider and City Cafe are pretty much legendary spots, but be prepared to fight the crowds. You'll also want to walk down the Strip (not far from the stadium) and see all the activity.
I'm personally a HUGE fan of Mediterranean Sandwich Company - it only recently moved in so it's not an iconic spot or anything, but it makes a great lunch. Gallettes is the gameday tradition bar where everyone gets the famous Yellowhammer cocktails, and then the Houndstooth down the street is another legendary favorite. It would also be worth venturing a little further from campus and going to downtown. The Avenue Pub is one of my favorite burgers, and FIVE Tuscaloosa is always a great meal.
TTR: What is your prediction? Do the Tops shock the world or do they become the first of what will assuredly be many notches in the Bama bed post this year?
RBR: I expect Alabama wins this by a solid four scores. The Hilltoppers always seem to punch above their weight class, so I don't think this is a 40-point beatdown. There will be enough moments to have Alabama fans grumbling that it "isn't Saban anymore,” but the game won't ever be in doubt, either.