Saturday is Senior Day for Alabama and the (likely) final home game of the season. There's still a possibility that the Crimson Tide could host a playoff game, though last week's loss to Oklahoma at Bryant-Denny made that a lot more unlikely.
Alabama has little to be anxious about this weekend against Eastern Illinois, a team that is just 3-8 at the FCS level and ranks 270th in Bill Connelly's rankings of college football teams across all divisions.
Saturday will be a name-your-score bloodbath. Eastern Illinois will get a big check, and Alabama should get a stress-free win where they can hopefully work on the issues that have plagued them for a few weeks and led to last week's disappointing home loss to the Sooners.
Every week we make bold predictions for each game, and that doesn't change because of the quality of the opponent.
Let's have some fun and get bold.
Bold Predictions for Alabama vs. Eastern Illinois
Lotzeir Brooks finally reaches the endzone
The only thing missing from Lotzeir Brooks' true freshman season in Tuscaloosa is a touchdown. I expect Ty Simpson and Ryan Grubb to try to remedy that on Saturday by force-feeding the star freshman. Perhaps they take some deep shots to Brooks, or they force it to him in the redzone. One way or another, he's getting into the endzone.
Brooks has produced 22 receptions for 334 yards this season, proving himself to be a reliable option in the offense immediately.
We've made this bold prediction several times this season, as a Brooks TD has always felt inevitable. We feel better than ever about it this week. Speaking of touchdowns...
Kadyn Proctor scores a touchdown, too
Alabama brought back out the "Krispy" package last weekend against Oklahoma, but it was to use Kadyn Proctor as a decoy in a critical 4th-and-1 situation in the fourth quarter. Simpson faked handing the ball to Proctor before flipping it to Brooks on an end-around to pick up the first down.
Proctor has come close a couple of times to getting the ball in the endzone. In a game that shouldn't ever be close, this feels like the week to get the big man a touchdown. If the situation arises where Alabama has the ball inside the five-yard line on Saturday, look for Proctor to line up at RB or perhaps as the Wildcat QB to take a direct snap.
He punches it into the endzone against Eastern Illinois to raucous applause from the Bryant-Denny faithful.
An Alabama RB rushes for 100+ yards
Only one time this season has an Alabama RB eclipsed 100 yards on the ground. That was Jam Miller, who produced 136 rushing yards in the Crimson Tide's win over Vanderbilt at the beginning of October.
Apparently, rushing yards are a big factor for the College Football Playoff committee this year, so expect Alabama to make a concerted effort to move the ball on the ground against Eastern Illinois to appease Hunter Yurachek and the other buffoons that make up the committee.
I think Alabama will have a 100-yard rusher on Saturday. I'm just torn on who it will be. It'll either be redshirt freshman Daniel Hill, who continues to establish himself as the Crimson Tide's new RB1. Hill picked up 60 yards on 15 carries last week against Oklahoma.
Or, it could be true freshman AK Dear, who figures to get extended work against Eastern Illinois. There's a case to be made for Dear getting early action, as he might have the talent to make a difference in the backfield. Even with the running game improved against Oklahoma, neither DeBoer nor Grubb was overly happy with the performance of the backs, lamenting missed opportunities for big plays that were missed because of it.
Perhaps Dear could showcase the vision Alabama has been missing and utilize his burst for an explosive play or two.
The holes will be there against an FCS defensive line; it'll just be up to the backs to find them and hit them with conviction.