Alabama Football: No elite QB opponents for Tide in 2021
By Dakota Cox
Alabama football has an easy slate in terms of opposing quarterbacks
It takes a lot to upset Alabama in the regular season, but there appears to be a formula. You need momentum early with some crazy plays. Playing at home doesn’t hurt, and you also need elite quarterback play. This usually means you need an elite quarterback, but some lackluster players have put it all together to beat Alabama football in the past.
Some of Alabama’s few losses have come to Heisman Trophy winners like Joe Burrow, Johnny Manziel and Cam Newton. Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly put up elite performances, and Auburn has found magic when they needed to in the Iron Bowl.
While you could always make something happen over 60 minutes, no quarterback on Alabama football’s schedule appears to be in the same tier as some of the Tide’s former opponents. Excluding Alabama’s two cupcake games, the Tide have 10 opponents. Of those 10, 4 have to replace their starting quarterbacks from last season. Some of the remaining teams, like LSU and Mississippi State, return quarterbacks with some experience, but they did not start every game last season.
Only three teams return their regular starter from last season. Ole Miss brings back Matt Corral, Auburn returns Bo Nix and Miami returns D’Eriq King. These are easily the toughest quarterbacks the Tide will face in 2021.
While all of these quarterbacks hope to be Heisman contenders, none of them have performed at the same level as other quarterbacks in Alabama’s past. Corral threw 14 picks last season. King averaged less than 250 passing yards per game. While Nix beat Alabama as a true freshman, he threw 7 interceptions and only 12 touchdowns in 2020.
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Again, you don’t have to be an elite quarterback to beat Alabama football. You just need an elite performance. Nix had a great game against the Tide in 2019, and Corral almost upset Alabama last season. If any of these quarterbacks want to carry their teams to victory against Alabama football, they’ll need their best performances.