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College Football News Preview 2020: Alabama Crimson Tide
College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Alabama Crimson Tide season with what you need to know. – Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiuta…
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Alabama Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 11-2 overall, 6-2 in SEC
Head Coach: Nick Saban, 14th year, 157-23
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 11
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 15
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 1
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Alabama Crimson Tide Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense was amazing – scoring the second-most points in the history of the program – and it’s going to be fantastic again after averaging 511 yards and 47 points per game.
It’s only sins were that 1) it couldn’t outgun an LSU team that put together – possibly – the greatest season in the history of college football, 2) leaving Tua Tagovailoa in too long against Mississippi State, and 3) it couldn’t overcome a few bad throws against Auburn – 45 points weren’t quite enough.
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian lost four players – Tua Tagovailoa, Jedrick Wills, Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy – to the first 15 picks of the NFL Draft, but that’s just the cost of doing business for the Crimson Tide. What’s almost as important is who didn’t leave early.
RB Najee Harris, WR DeVonta Smith, and OT Alex Leatherwood would’ve all flirted with the first round, and almost certainly would’ve been taken in the top 50.
CFN in 60 Video: Alabama Crimson Tide Preview
But the loss of Tagovailoa is the big one. It’s not like his early departure wasn’t expected, and it’s not 100% certain his injured hip would be completely and totally ready to roll for the season opener, but he was one of the all-time most efficient quarterbacks completing g 69% of his passes for 7,442 yards and 87 touchdown s with 11 picks, and averaging 10.9 yards per attempt.
He was pretty good.
Junior Mac Jones is the safe call to step in and run the attack. He’s the veteran who saw plenty of action in mop-up duty before stepping in when Tagovailoa went down for the year. He’s got the arm, can hit the deep ball, and can spread the ball around, throwing 14 touchdown passes with three interceptions – two of them, though, were killers against Auburn.
Taulia Tagovailoa transferred to Maryland, and there’s a reason – welcome to Bryce Young.
Remember when Alabama used to win big things with decent quarterback recruits? That went bye-bye with superstar talents Jalen Hurts, Tua, and now with Young, one of the 2020’s top national prospects. He’s only 6-0 and 190 pounds, but he can sling it, and he’s devastating in the open field. USC had him, and Bama stole him away.
– What’s amazing about Alabama is how it lost Jeudy and Ruggs to the first round of the NFL Draft, and it still might have the nation’s best receiving corps. DeVonta Smith – forever famous for catching the 2018 national championship game-winner – returns after leading the team with 1,256 yards and 14 scores on 68 catches. He’s great, but do-it-all playmaker Jaylen Waddle – who averaged 17 yards per catch with six scores, and almost beat Auburn by himself – might be even more explosive.
Start with those two, hope for relatively untested talents like Slade Bolden and John Metchie to be ready for primetime, expect the excellent freshman to provide the depth, and look for tight ends Miller Forristall to and North Carolina transfer Carl Tucker to get plenty of work.
– The receiving corps is great, but the running back situation is even stronger. The 1-2 punch of Najee Harris – who came up with a nationally underappreciated 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns – and Brian Robinson Jr. was ready for the NFL before last year.
Landing star recruit Jace McClellan – pulling him away from Oklahoma – to go along with Trey Sanders and third-leading rusher Keilan Robinson is almost unfair.
Harris is the guy, but the rotation will be strong behind yet another great line. Alex Leatherwood continues to be an all-star at left tackle, Landon Dickerson is back at center, and as long as a right tackle emerges right away in place of Jedrick Wills, all will be fine.
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Alabama Crimson Tide Defense 3 Things To Know
– The pressure is on defensive coordinator Pete Golding to come up with something special. Yes, Alabama underwent a youth movement in several spots. Yes, injuries were a problem, and yes, the combination of both things led to a whole slew of inconsistencies, especially in the linebacking corps.
For most programs, finishing 20th in the nation in total defense and 13th in scoring D would be fine. At Alabama, last year was a relative disaster.
It doesn’t help that five players were drafted, but a whole lot of problems might be solved with two key returning parts to the linebacking corps.
2018 leading tackler Dylan Moses is back after suffering a torn ACL, and 6-3, 237-pound Joshua McMillon’s return from his own knee injury is a big help.
Freshmen Shane Lee and Christian Harris finished second and fourth on the team in tackles, respectively. They’re now good veterans to work in with Moses and McMillon on the inside, and the outside should be interesting with national super-recruits Demouy Kennedy, Chris Braswell, and Drew Sanders likely to be thrown to the wolves right away.
– The line loses Raekwon Davis to the Miami Dolphins – that’s about it. 6-3, 308-pound sophomore DJ Dale will once again be the guy who does most of the dirty work on the nose.
The threesome of sophomore Byron Young, the versatile 6-5, 310-pound Christian Barmore – he’ll fit in anywhere and produce – and junior LaBryan Ray, who’s back after missing most of last year with a foot injury, will be outstanding on the ends. As always, there’s next-level talent in the recruiting class to work into the rotation at all three spots.
– The pass defense and the secondary were much, much better than they got credit for. Everyone saw the LSU game, but that was an aberration – this group came up with a whole lot of big plays. Now it’s going to take some work to be nearly as strong.
S Xavier McKinney is gone to the New York Giants, and CB Trevon Diggs is now a Dallas Cowboy, and Shyheim Carter and Jared Mayden are done, but Patrick Surtain is the one the next-level guys really want. The big corner will be the star of the secondary – and he’ll be avoided at all costs.
Expect an open competition for the other corner gig – junior Josh Jobe is the veteran, but he’ll be pushed – but that’s nothing compared to the fight for safety spots.
New recruits Brian Branch and Malachi Moore were good gets, but they’re not quite the superstar of superstar recruits who can step in right away and rock. Sophomore Jordan Battle counts as a veteran now after making 30 stops in his first season.
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Alabama Crimson Tide Players
Best Alabama Crimson Tide Offensive Player
RB Najee Harris, Sr.
There’s absolutely no debate if you want to put either of the star receivers here, or even go out on a limb and make the call that star QB recruit Bryce Young is the top offensive guy. But Harris finally stepped up and became the guy everyone thought Bama was getting as the one of ones in the 2017 recruiting class.
Last year he turned it on when the offense needed him the most, running for close to six yards per carry for 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns, and catching 27 passes for 304 yards and four scores as he took over the offense once Tua Tagovailoa went down – he ran for 146 yards against Auburn and 136 in the bowl win over Michigan.
2. WR DeVonta Smith, Sr.
3. WR Jaylen Waddle, Jr.
4. OT Alex Leatherwood, Sr.
5. C Landon Dickerson, Sr.
Best Alabama Crimson Tide Defensive Player
CB Patrick Surtain, Jr.
This will be the spot for Dylan Moses once he shows he’s 100% back to form after his knee injury, but when it comes to the NFL scouts, Surtain might not be all that far off from being the Jeff Okudah of the 2021 draft.
He’s a physical 6-2, 203-pound corner who made 42 stops with two picks and eight broken up passes, might actually be better at the next level as a ball-hawking leader at a safety spot, and now he has two years of experience under his belt.
The only thing missing is the raw warp speed. He’s more of a 4.5ish guy than a true blazer, but he makes up for it with his size and his ability to beat up receivers.
2. LB Dylan Moses, Jr.
3. DT DJ Dale, Soph.
4. DE LaBryan Ray, Jr.
5. LB Shane Lee, Soph.
College Football News Preview 2020: Alabama Crimson Tide Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Alabama Crimson Tide Offense
Start running the ball again. When you have Tua Tagovailoa throwing to one of the most talented receiving corps in the history of the sport, you throw, and you throw some more.
But Alabama’s formula under Nick Saban tends to work a bit better when the running game is crushing everything in its path.
Again, there’s no dogging the transformation to the high-octane passing game with the pieces that were in place over the last two seasons – the O was No. 1 in the nation in passing efficiency and No. 2 overall in scoring – but the 168 rushing yards per game were the program’s fewest by a mile in well over a decade.
Run the ball, rely on the defense to be the Alabama defense, repeat.
With the deepest and most talented backfield in college football, just keep feeding the backs, take the pressure off of Mac Jones or Bryce Young, and unlike last year, dominate the time of possession battle.
Or, if Jones or Young can be Tua, just wing it around the yard again – just don’t forget about running it with this stable of backs.
And on the flip side …
Biggest Key To The Alabama Crimson Tide Defense
Be Alabama again against the run. It’s not that the run defense was totally miserable – few teams would complain about allowing 137 yards per game and just nine touchdowns – with five of them coming in the losses to LSU and Auburn; the only two multi-rushing touchdown games against this D, by the way.
But this is ALABAMA, and it lost its way a bit against the run over the last two seasons.
It was No. 1 in the nation in run defense in 2017. No. 1 in 2016. No. 1 in 2015.
When it was fourth in the nation against the run in 2014, it allowed just five touchdowns – no one else gave up fewer than nine.
No. 1 in 2012. No. 1 in 2011 …
37th? Oh no, that’s not okay.
Right out of the gate, the bigger problem will be the secondary against a USC passing game that’s trying to be Texas Tech again. But Georgia is coming to town a few weeks later, and the run defense had better kick it in when a huge November rolls around.
Key Alabama Crimson Tide Player To A Successful Season
P Ty Perine, Soph.
Or any one of seemingly 29 different options on the roster for the job.
The key player to the season is probably Josh Jobe, or anyone who can handle the corner gig on the other side of Patrick Surtain, but along with the running game losing its way a bit over the last two seasons, the punting has been a problem, too.
The Tide had a four-year weapon in now-Green Bay Packer, JK Scott, who averaged 45.6 yards per punt and was a master at flipping the field.
Pin teams deep, force offenses to try going on a long drive against the Bama D, and thanks for playing.
The Tide punting was miserable in 2018 – averaging 35.7 yards per kick – and it wasn’t a whole lot better early on last year with three different options giving it a try.
Perine stepped in midway through and averaged almost 45 yards per kick, and it still wasn’t enough – Bama finished 118th in the nation and last in the SEC in net yardage.
Key Game To The Alabama Crimson Tide Season
at LSU, Nov. 7
Georgia is going to be a problem, but that’s in Tuscaloosa – for whatever it’s going to be worth to have a big home game this year. The date with Auburn is at home, too, and so is the showdown against Texas A&M. There can be one miss along the way on the wrong day to either of those three, but that can’t happen if there’s another loss to LSU.
Don’t let all the big personnel losses fool you – this is another amazing Tiger team. It’s not as good as the 2019 version, but it can absolutely get things together by early November and pull it off over the Tide.
The last lose by Bama in Baton Rouge? 2010.
– Alabama Crimson Tide Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Alabama Fun Stats
– 1st Half Scoring: Alabama 359 – Opponents 136
– Fumbles: Opponents 19 (lost 11) – Alabama 9 (lost 4)
– Field Goals: Opponents 20-of-20 – Alabama 12-of-18
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Alabama Crimson Tide Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
It took LSU having the most amazing season ever to beat Alabama, and it still needed to hold on late.
Later last season, it took two Auburn pick-sixes – helped by Tua Tagovailoa being out – to get by the Tide 48-45.
Even with those two losses, an argument could’ve still been made that the Tide deserved the fourth spot in the CFP in a Best Team Theory sort of way. Instead, Alabama found out what it’s been like for the rest of the SEC over the last decade-plus.
You can be really, really, really good in this conference, and it still might not mean jack squat.
And that’s it. That’s The Process that Nick Saban always rants about.
It might be joked about by some, but one missed play, one slip, one interception, one change is the difference between being in the CFP with a chance for another title, and losing two heartbreaking shootouts.
It helps, though, when part of that “process” includes having lots and lots of superstar recruits. Once again, Saban has one of the four best teams in college football, and it might be No. 1.
There are concerns. The secondary has to come together fast, the linebackers have to be able to rock the run D after a rough year, and a quarterback has to be able to handle the job, but … boo hoo.
The NFL talent factory keeps on rolling. Best of all, all things considered, the schedule just isn’t that bad.
SET THE ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE REGULAR SEASON WIN TOTAL AT … 11
The USC game to open things up is in Jerry World in Arlington. The Tennessee game is on the road, and the LSU showdown is in Baton Rouge. But there’s no Florida to deal with, Georgia – who’s every bit as good as Bama – has to come to Tuscaloosa, and the Texas A&M and Auburn games are at home.
Barring a total disaster, Alabama is a lock for ten wins.
Are you really going to bet that for the first time in the Saban era, he’s going to go two straight regular seasons with multiple regular season losses?
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
