Alabama football’s home opener would have happened today.
Today feels like the true start of the college football season. With the Big 12 and ACC all playing games this Saturday, fans can watch games that are truly worth watching. However, Alabama football’s season opener will have to wait a couple of more weeks.
Today would have been the first home game of the season for the Crimson Tide. In a normal season, they would have played against Georgia State in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Even with a lopsided opponent, a lot would have happened in that game. Although we’ll never truly know, here is our best guess at what fans could have expected in this game.
Offense
Alabama’s offense would be off to a strong start in this game. Hoping to avoid mistakes, the Tide likely would have given Najee Harris plenty of early touches to dominate the time of possession. Mac Jones would settle for the easy pass attempts, and his star-studded receivers would do the rest. The Alabama football offense would score plenty of early touchdowns to take a commanding lead.
Defense
In our USC prediction, we said that the Tide secondary would make mistakes due to their lack of experience. That won’t be the case against Georgia State. The Panthers will be without their quarterback from last season, so their offense will stumble out of the gate. By the time they can make corrections, the score will already be out of hand.
Fans
If everything were normal, this would be Alabama’s home opener. That means that the stadium would be packed to watch this beatdown. However, it might get too hot to handle for four quarters. The student section would thin out after halftime, and it would raise the inescapable question of whether or not college students care enough about Alabama football. Saban would be asked about it, and he would probably have a sound bite or two about attendance.
Reserve Players
The best thing about cupcake games is that you get to see bench players thrive. This would be Alabama’s introduction to Bryce Young, and Trey Sanders would also see a strong share of carries. Keilan Robinson would likely make a few plays as well. There is a chance that some would question whether or not Young should be the starter after a game against Georgia State.
All in all, Alabama football would do everything necessary to take care of business and prepare for more pressing games down the road.