Alabama Football: Tide will blowout, cruise by and prevail

• Arkansas could have some momentum on the first Saturday of October. Beating Texas A&M the week before in Arlington, TX would give the Hogs strong confidence about beating the Tide. Playing in Fayetteville, with a 3-1 record (including an opening game win over Cincinnati) would have the Razorbacks sky-high. Two weeks ago, I wrote Arkansas could be the Tide’s toughest game in the regular season. One reason why is Hogs’ QB, KJ Jefferson, who, with accurate passing and powerful running, could be the SEC’s second-best quarterback. My pick is the Tide will win by double-digits – barely.
• An improving Tennessee program gets home-field advantage. The Vols should have one of the SEC’s best offenses, but the defense will not have improved enough to slow down an even better offense, from the Alabama Crimson Tide. In the fourth quarter, a tired Vols defense will surrender enough to give the Tide a double-digit victory.
• By November, Lane Kiffin will have rebuilt Ole Miss into a tough team. If he does not, it will only be because neither Luke Altmeyer nor Jaxson Dart is as good as expected. Because of Kiffin, an Ole Miss QB does not have to be a Matt Corral. A good QB is enough for Kiffin, as it was when he took an Alabama running back, safety, and backup QB, Blake Sims, and made him a Tide QB star. Roster versus roster comparison says the Tide wins by three or four touchdowns. My guess is a couple of touchdowns is a more realistic prediction.

Alabama should not be seriously challenged by Mississippi State either. The same is probably true with Texas, even with the Longhorns being much improved. The end result is a 12-0 regular season.