Crimson Tide vs USC: The Keys to an Alabama Victory
What will the Alabama Crimson Tide need to do to walk out of AT&T Stadium with a win over USC? Here are the keys to getting the win.
ICYMI: PODCAST – Talking Crimson Tide vs USC and Week 1 in Episode 3
It’s that time of the year again and week one is upon us. On Saturday night, the first-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (0-0) travels to Dallas, Texas’ AT&T Stadium to do battle with the 17th ranked USC Trojans (0-0) and these are Alabama’s keys to victory.
A QUARTERBACK HAS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE OFFENSE
Nick Saban has narrowed down the preseason quarterback battle to junior Cooper Bateman and sophomore Blake Barnett, but freshman Jalen Hurts is still listed on the official depth chart as a possible starter so we can’t even rule him out. Regardless of who plays on Saturday, someone has to take the reins of the offense and make it his team. The quarterback that wins the position will be the man that wins the team over, and there is no better way of doing that than having a huge performance against a ranked opponent on national television.
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Cooper Bateman, Jalen Hurts, and Blake Barnett all have similar skill sets in that they are all very quick and athletic, and can make plays with their legs. Hurts seems to have the strongest arm of the three but Bateman has the only game experience of any quarterback on the roster. He struggled last year against Wisconsin and Ole Miss, but he has had almost an entire year to get more comfortable in the offense and with his skill set. At times, when he was in the game, last year he seemed too hesitant to actually use his legs. Bateman is one of the fastest players on the team and if he is going to take over this team he will have to utilize that.
UNLEASH THE BEASTS
USC is breaking in a new quarterback as well, in Max Browne, and Alabama’s demons on the defensive line will look to rattle his cage early and often Saturday night. According to Jonathan Allen, he and Tim Williams have a “friendly bet” on who will have the most sacks this season. I fully expect both men to get after the quarterback with all their might in this game. It will be difficult for any team to stop those two, but the Alabama defense also boasts the likes of linebackers Rashaan Evans and Ryan Anderson and defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, who each love to get after the quarterback.
I expect Evans to play a role much similar to that of Donta Hightower in 2011, in the sense that he will line up all over the field to best utilize his speed. USC is going to run more of a traditional pro-style offense in this game so I expect we will see Evans rushing off the edge on obvious passing downs.
CONTROL THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
USC wants to play smashmouth with Alabama and go right into the teeth of the Alabama defense. No longer are A/Shawn Robinson or Jarran Reed holding down the Alabama interior so the Trojans will look to test out new nose tackle Da’Ron Payne. Payne is a massive, yet surprisingly quick, brute of a nose tackle that will look to set the tone for the Alabama defense. If the defensive line can hold USC’s running game in check – Ronald Jones II and Justin Davis combined for 1,889 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground in 2015 – it will be much more pressure on Brown to make plays and give the pass rush a chance to make plays.
Only a few more days and this long drought of no Alabama football will be over.