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Alabama Football: 3 bold predictions for the Tide's matchup with Wisconsin

These bold predictions will help Alabama Football go on the road for the first time in 2024 and come away with a comfortable victory.

By John Mitchell

Aug 31, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Kendrick Law (1) leaps past a Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defender on his way to a touchdown during the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
Aug 31, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Kendrick Law (1) leaps past a Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defender on his way to a touchdown during the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images / Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
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We're just 48-hours away from Alabama Football's first road trip to Madison in 96-years to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. We've poked and prodded all angles of the matchup, previewing Wisconsin's offense and defense, offering up keys to victory for the Tide on offense and defense, and now it's time to get bold and make some predictions for the game.

In last week's bold predictions, we went 1-for-3, which if we were playing baseball would firmly place us in the Hall-of-Fame. We correctly predicted that Ryan Williams would find the endzone for the second week in a row, which he did in the fourth quarter on a touchdown that gave Alabama its first two possession lead of the night and was the beginning of the dam breaking as the Tide blew the game open at the end.

We incorrectly predicted Jalen Milroe would put up 400-yards of offense for the first time in his career. He fell a meager 204-yards shy of that mark.

We also incorrectly predicted the Crimson Tide to score a non-offensive touchdown. Instead, Alabama failed to force a turnover defensively, though Kendrick Law's opening kickoff return in the second half looked like it had the potential to break all the way for a touchdown, but instead of racing the rest of the way to the endzone, Law fumbled so as to save his legs for more imporant moments.

While 1-out-of-3 might be Hall-of-Fame worthy, we strive for better here at Bama Hammer. Onward and upward we go this week:

3. Kendrick Law breaks out

Alabama fans have been waiting for a Kendrick Law breakout performance for over a year now. Law has flashed potential, but hasn't quite realized it fully just yet. He only has one catch so far this year, a 22-yard touchdown in the season opener against Western Kentucky.

He was shutout last week, but Law has frequently impacted the game outside of catching the football. He is a willing blocker on the edge and has set up his teammates for success time and time again. It's time for Law to eat, though.

There's a lot of creativity in the playbook that we haven't seen the first two weeks, and I think a lot of that creativity revolves around Law due to his speed and strength. He might be the fastest player on the roster, and I expect the playbook to open up and DeBoer and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan to find different ways to get the ball in Law's hands. Screen-passes, jet sweeps, pop passes, and maybe a go-route or two off of a double-move.

I think this is the game Law finally realizes his potential and has the big game Tide fans have yearned for.

2. Alabama scores a non-offensive touchdown

We're going back to the well again on this one. I have high hopes for Kane Wommack's defensive scheme and forcing takeaways. He was extremely disappointed in Alabama's inability to force a single turnover last week against USF, so you can tell from listening to him that it's a point of emphasis for his defense.

Similarly to the vanilla offensive play calling, I think Wommack has been holding back on defense, too. Statistically, Alabama ranks 6th in the country in yards-per-play defense, and they've done that without creating a ton of havoc in the backfield. They've been content rushing three or four guys and letting the young secondary get reps against inferior opponents to ensure they are as ready as they can be for the big tests coming soon.

I think we'll see the playbook opening up more this week, and Alabama doing more to affect the quarterback. Tyler Van Dyke presents the biggest threat to the Tide's secondary so far, and Wommack won't rest on his laurels and leave his secondary out to dry. Expect some different blitz packages that we haven't seen yet, and look for the Crimson Tide to get plenty of pressure on Van Dyke and force a mistake or two.

My official guess is that it will be super senior Malachi Moore housing a pick-six that quiets the Camp Randall crowd.

1. Alabama has multiple 100-yard rushers

Alabama's biggest advantage over Wisconsin should be the Tide's interior offensive line against an inexperienced and thin Badgers defensive line. With Kadyn Proctor looking likely to play, Alabama should be right at full-strength up-front. While Alabama struggled to run the ball for most of the night last week, things changed dramatically when Elijah Pritchett was inserted at right tackle.

That should give Alabama fans confidence that a fully healthy Proctor and Pritchett will be the missing ingredient as Alabama looks to establish its offensive identity. I think that identity will be best suited around a power-running game, particularly with one of the nation's most athletic quarterbacks in Milroe.

I think that identity will be realized in Madison on Saturday afternoon, and I expect the Crimson Tide to dominate the trenches and have (at least) two players eclipse the century mark on the ground. I think one of them will be Milroe as he breaks a long touchdown run and uses his legs to extend drives. I think one of Miller or Haynes joins him as the Tide rolls to a big victory heading into the bye week.

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