Alabama football will be looking for a bounce-back performance in its home opener this week against Louisiana Monroe. The Crimson Tide suffered a devastating and disappointing road loss to Florida State to open the season, the program's first season-opening loss since 2001.
There's nothing Alabama can do against a G5 opponent to wash away the stink of last Saturday's performance, but they can get better. They can play with pride and take the necessary steps forward to salvage this season.
Kalen DeBoer said on Wednesday night that everyone in the program is pissed off with what happened in Tallahassee. It sure would be nice to see a pissed off team on the field this weekend, even against an inferior opponent.
Let's make some bold predictions for this weekend as Alabama looks to get the season back on track.
Bold predictions for Alabama vs. UL Monroe
Freshman WR Lotzeir Brooks scores his first career touchdown
The true freshman from New Jersey generated a ton of buzz over the offseason. He immediately flashed during spring practice, but his development slowed a little with a nagging injury during fall camp. Still, it's obvious how excited the coaching staff is about this kid.
One of the most interesting observations from last week's snap count data is that Brooks played the fifth-most snaps of any Crimson Tide WR. Everyone knew the top four would be Ryan Williams, Germie Bernard, Isaiah Horton, and Rico Scott, but most assumed, with Brooks' limited camp reps, that the fifth option would be veterans Jalen Hale or Cole Adams.
Instead, both Brooks and fellow true freshman Derek Meadows played more snaps than either. Neither recorded a stat, but they were out there. I think that changes this week.
DeBoer talked a lot about creating explosive plays offensively this week. I imagine they're going to try and take some deep shots down the field, and with Brooks' speed and quick stop-start ability, I expect a double-move at some point to try and free him up for a bomb.
I'll predict he gets free and comes down with the ball for the first of many explosive play touchdowns for the freshman.
Kevin Riley leads Alabama in rushing
After lamenting going away from the run game too early in last week's loss, I expect Ryan Grubb to be committed to it this week. I also expect a heavier workload for redshirt freshman Kevin Riley because Grubb and the offensive coaching staff had to see the same thing we saw on tape: Riley was the most promising of the four running backs to see the field against Florida State.
Riley was the only running back to produce a run of over seven yards. He finished the game with five carries for 31 yards, showing wiggle and burst that hasn't been apparent yet for the other three fighting to be in the rotation with Jam Miller still sidelined.
With Miller out at least one more week, this game should be a perfect opportunity to get an extended look at the promising redshirt freshman.
Alabama's defense pitches a shutout - at least until garbage time
It's hard to predict a complete shutout in games that should be a massive mismatch. Alabama is favored by over five touchdowns for a reason, and by the time this game reaches the fourth quarter, it should be long since decided. That could open up the potential for a late, garbage-time touchdown that spoils a would-be shutout.
But the sentiment is the same, regardless. I expect Alabama's defense to bounce back in a big way this week. I look for them to show some pride in performance, fly to the ball, and physically overwhelm a smaller opponent.
Had Alabama won last week, this could be a classic sleepwalking type of performance, but after last week's pitiful effort, the defense better go out there and show it's still the same one that had the potential to be one of the best in the country this year.
Kane Wommack's future in Tuscaloosa depends on it.