Key questions heading into Alabama vs. ULM

Alabama defensive tackle Edric Hill. Photo | Alabama Athletics

Alabama stirred up a fresh pot of questions after being manhandled by Florida State in its season opener last weekend. Most of those won’t be answered until the Crimson Tide begins SEC play with a trip to Georgia at the end of the month. 

In the meantime, the next few weeks should serve as a restart, as Alabama looks to correct itself in time to avoid letting what figured to be a promising season run off the tracks. 

That begins this weekend with a winnable matchup against Louisiana-Monroe. The Warhawks famously upset Nick Saban’s first Alabama team in 2007, but have dropped their last two meetings against the Tide by a combined 97-7. That includes a 63-7 blowout during the last game between the two schools in 2022. 

This weekend’s matchup isn’t expected to be close either, as Alabama is currently a 37.5-point favorite, according to BetMGM. While a beatdown of ULM won’t provide many answers moving forward, it will still be interesting to see how the Tide rebounds during Saturday night’s home opener. 

Here are a few questions we have heading into the matchup. 

Who is next up at DT? 

Alabama’s defensive front is down two key pieces. Already dealing with the absence of starting defensive tackle Tim Keenan III (lower body), the Tide was dealt another blow on Wednesday as Jeremiah Beaman sustained what is expected to be a season-ending injury. 

Beaman, a 6-foot-4, 314-pound redshirt freshman, filled in for Keenan during Alabama’s season-opening loss at FSU last week. He took part in defensive 21 snaps while providing one quarterback hurry. 

While Beaman isn’t expected to return this year, Keenan’s injury isn’t viewed to be as serious. When addressing injuries on Wednesday, head coach Kalen DeBoer said Keenan will not be available this week but is “doing really well, making the progress we would have expected.” In the meantime, Alabama will need to dip down to its third-string defense to find a partner to place alongside James Smith in the starting front. 

So who’s the next man up?