Game day is finally upon us, which means it’s time to take a bit of a closer look at what to expect from Alabama’s matchup against Duke at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Last week was one full of disappointment for the crimson tide. The team lost it’s leader on defense in Dylan Moses and four key players were announced to be serving suspensions for significant time during today’s game. This puts a ton of responsibility on some younger players to step in and show what they can do.
Namely freshmen Shane Lee and Christian Harris.
This will be one of the biggest story lines to follow not only today, but for the entire season. With Moses, not being on the field to get things in order, the play calling responsibility has fallen upon Lee who has been a fixture in the rotation at middle linebacker since the spring. But the headline grabber in this group has been Christian Harris.
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Harris didn’t arrive to Tuscaloosa until the fall which makes his ascension in the depth chart that much more impressive. With Duke integrating a new quarterback in Quentin Harris, there shouldn’t be too much reason to worry about the youth up the middle at least for this week.
Look for upperclassmen like Xavier McKinney and Raekwon Davis to help lead the defense today. Davis has made it a point to become a more vocal fixture on the defensive line in 2019.
Alabama’s secondary on the other hand should cause little worry for the crimson tide faithful. This unit has been one of the most impressive all throughout the offseason. Duke’s unit of wide receivers in unproven to say the least. The most experienced member of the group is redshirt senior Aaron Young who only caught seven passes in 2018.
Duke also has their work cut out for them on the offensive line. The blue devils are trotting out a pair of freshman tackles in Casey Holman and Rakavius Chambers to deal with the tandem of Anfernee Jennings, Chris Allen and at some point, Terrell Lewis.
This will be Lewis’s first game in over a year so whenever his suspension is fulfilled expect a rather inspired performance from the junior.
Despite not having running backs Najee Harris and Brian Robinson for the beginning of the game, look for offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to get the run game going early with the likes of Jerome Ford and Keilan Robinson. Especially with the offensive line Alabama will be putting on the field.
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The crimson tide’s offensive line outweighs Duke’s defensive line by 156lbs. And that’s not counting the 360 lbs freshman Evan Neal.
It also shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Alabama will look for a lot of big plays through the air with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and this loaded group of receivers. Sure, guys like Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and Henry Ruggs III are going to get theirs. But pay attention to players like Tyrell Shavers, John Metchie and Slade Bolden to get a chance to make an impact later.
This may also be the game which the crimson tide fans get to see what redshirt sophomore Mac Jones can do from the backup quarterback spot. Jones only had 13 passing attempts in 2018 and his true game is a bit of a mystery to most. But today seems as good as any for him to be able to get a solid number of meaningful passes in.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
