Alabama Football: Game-by-game predictions for the defending champions
2. Arkansas State (Sept. 8)
The Arkansas State Red Wolves finished last year in third place in the Sun Belt with an overall record of 7-5 and a loss to Middle Tennessee State in the Camellia Bowl game. The team has two standout leaders in their quarterback Justice Hansen, on offense, and defensive back Justin Clifton, on defense. Both are seniors and both made multiple preseason award watch lists. These two will strive their best to rally their teams to head into Tuscaloosa and give Bama their best shot.
Alabama will use this week to recover and make adjustments to what they learned in the first week of play against Louisville. Furthermore, the coaching staff will use this week to look ahead and begin to install some of the schematics for the Ole Miss game in the following week.
Look for Coach Saban to give both quarterbacks playing time in this game in order to continue to keep both Hurts and Tagovialoa game ready, regardless of who/how much each played in the first game. A big blowout here will also give many second and third string players a chance to get some playing time.