Alabama will play in front of a packed Bryant-Denny Stadium for the first time since 2019 as it hosts Mercer in its home opener on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. While there isn’t a betting line heading into the matchup, the Crimson Tide isn’t expected to have much trouble with its visitors from the FCS level. Here are five things to watch heading into the matchup.
Last week’s season opener was marked by an array of starting debuts. Saturday could feature another as sophomore Drew Sanders fills in for an injured Christopher Allen at Sam linebacker.
Allen suffered what will likely be a season-ending foot injury during a strip-sack of Miami quarterback D’Eriq King last week. While the redshirt junior will be difficult to replace, Alabama is confident in Sanders’ ability to answer the call.
Following last week’s game, Nick Saban revealed that Sanders had been receiving first-team reps along with Allen and starting Jack linebacker Will Anderson Jr. this offseason. The 6-foot-5, 244-pound defender recorded six tackles including two solo stops against Miami.
“Drew is a hard-working guy,” Mike linebacker Henry To’o To’o said. “Ever since I’ve been here, Drew has been doing a phenomenal job in the weight room, on the field, in the playbook. But not only Drew. Every single person in that outside linebacker group, I believe they can step on the field and do a great job in filling in that place for Chris. We’ve got a really talented group of guys that are willing to work.”
During an opening week where several Heisman Trophy favorites fell flat of their expectations, Bryce Young managed to exceed his preseason hype. The five-star sophomore quarterback set school records for passing yards and passing touchdowns by a debut starter as he threw for 344 yards and four scores with no interceptions against Miami. Wednesday, he was named the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week.
The performance also vaulted Young to the top of the Heisman odds as VegasInsider lists him as the favorite to win the award at +400 ahead of Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler (+800), Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (+1200), Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral (+1200) and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (+1200).
The last time fans saw Young inside Bryant-Denny Stadium was during the A-Day game in April where he took home MVP honors, completing 25 of 44 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore’s numbers this week might depend on how long he stays in the game. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him put on another show in his first home start.
“I’ve kind of expected it, especially with Bryce, being with him every day,” receiver John Metchie III said. “Being with him every day, it’s kind of something I expected, and it’s just something that college football fans and everybody else was finally able to see.”
Mercer might not be able to match up athletically with Alabama, but the Bears feature a difficult attack to defend when they have the ball. Head coach Drew Cronic utilizes a variation of the Wing-T offense that involves multi-optional reads out of two running-back sets.
A common play out of the formation sees one of the two running backs go into motion toward the strong side of the field before the snap. From there, the quarterback will read the strongside edge defender. If the defender commits to the back in motion, the handoff generally goes to the other running back who takes the ball up the middle. If the edge defender crashes the box, the play turns into an option rollout between the motion back and the quarterback toward the strong side of the field. At any point behind the line of scrimmage, the quarterback can also pass the ball to one of his receivers, giving the defense one more thing to worry about.
Last week, Mercer utilized the attack to perfection, breezing to a 69-0 win over NAIA opponent Point University.
“I guess the easiest way to categorize it would be there’s a lot of three-back runs, and even though it isn’t what people would recognize as the Wishbone, between the motions and so forth, it’s kind of a combination running three-back type runs that are not in spread-out formations,” Saban said of Mercer’s offensive set up. “There are a lot of bunch formations and there’s a lot of motions and adjustments that players have to make. This is totally unique to anything that we’ve played against and will play against the rest of the season.”
While a series of minor injuries prevented Alabama’s offensive line from completely gelling during fall camp, the unit looked pretty solid last week against Miami. The Tide’s front provided Young with enough time to put together his record-breaking performance while also clearing the way for Alabama’s running backs to average 4.43 yards per carry. In total, that led to 44 points and 501 total yards on the afternoon.
Alabama’s starting unit included Evan Neal, Javion Cohen, Darrian Dalcourt, Emil Ekiyor Jr. and Chris Owens from left to right with Kendall Randolph serving as the blocking tight end.
The setup saw Dalcourt make his first career start at center while Owens, who is listed as a co-starter with Dalcourt at center on the depth chart, bounced out to right tackle. Both players put in a solid shift against the Hurricanes.
Owens led Alabama with a 68.6 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus and provided a key block during running back Trey Sanders’ 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Dalcourt earned offensive player of the week honors from Alabama’s coaching staff, posting a 66.7 pass-blocking mark while also clearing the way for some big gains on the ground.
“I think both those guys played well in the game,” Saban said Monday. “I was encouraged by, you know, both players and Dalcourt is obviously one of the players of the week. I thought Chris Owens played really well in the game, tried to play physical, sustained finish blocks.”
Don’t get it wrong, Alabama’s high-powered offense would rather see Will Reichard exclusively on extra-point tries if possible. However, when the Tide does have to settle for field goals, it has plenty of confidence in its junior kicker to knock the ball through the uprights.
After putting together a perfect season last year that saw him convert on all 14 of his field-goal attempts as well as each of his 84 extra-point tries, Reichard continued his machine-like efficiency last week. The Hoover, Ala., native was 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts against Miami, hitting from 38 yards, 51 yards and 40 yards out. He also converted on all of his five extra-point tries.
In total, Reichard has made 109 combined field-goal attempts and extra-point tries dating back to a missed extra point at South Carolina during the 2019 season.
“I think that the entire team has a lot of confidence in Will,” Saban said Monday. “The guy has been outstanding last year and so far this year. He did a really good job kicking off in the game, as well as making field goals. So I think the whole team has a lot of confidence in him.
“I guess the offensive team does, too. But the offensive team really wants to score touchdowns, so when they kick a field goal maybe they’re not so happy about it. But they’re happy for him.”
Drew Sanders steps in
Last week’s season opener was marked by an array of starting debuts. Saturday could feature another as sophomore Drew Sanders fills in for an injured Christopher Allen at Sam linebacker.
Allen suffered what will likely be a season-ending foot injury during a strip-sack of Miami quarterback D’Eriq King last week. While the redshirt junior will be difficult to replace, Alabama is confident in Sanders’ ability to answer the call.
Following last week’s game, Nick Saban revealed that Sanders had been receiving first-team reps along with Allen and starting Jack linebacker Will Anderson Jr. this offseason. The 6-foot-5, 244-pound defender recorded six tackles including two solo stops against Miami.
“Drew is a hard-working guy,” Mike linebacker Henry To’o To’o said. “Ever since I’ve been here, Drew has been doing a phenomenal job in the weight room, on the field, in the playbook. But not only Drew. Every single person in that outside linebacker group, I believe they can step on the field and do a great job in filling in that place for Chris. We’ve got a really talented group of guys that are willing to work.”
Will Bryce Young put on another show?
During an opening week where several Heisman Trophy favorites fell flat of their expectations, Bryce Young managed to exceed his preseason hype. The five-star sophomore quarterback set school records for passing yards and passing touchdowns by a debut starter as he threw for 344 yards and four scores with no interceptions against Miami. Wednesday, he was named the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week.
The performance also vaulted Young to the top of the Heisman odds as VegasInsider lists him as the favorite to win the award at +400 ahead of Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler (+800), Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (+1200), Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral (+1200) and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud (+1200).
The last time fans saw Young inside Bryant-Denny Stadium was during the A-Day game in April where he took home MVP honors, completing 25 of 44 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore’s numbers this week might depend on how long he stays in the game. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him put on another show in his first home start.
“I’ve kind of expected it, especially with Bryce, being with him every day,” receiver John Metchie III said. “Being with him every day, it’s kind of something I expected, and it’s just something that college football fans and everybody else was finally able to see.”
A unique look from Mercer
Mercer might not be able to match up athletically with Alabama, but the Bears feature a difficult attack to defend when they have the ball. Head coach Drew Cronic utilizes a variation of the Wing-T offense that involves multi-optional reads out of two running-back sets.
A common play out of the formation sees one of the two running backs go into motion toward the strong side of the field before the snap. From there, the quarterback will read the strongside edge defender. If the defender commits to the back in motion, the handoff generally goes to the other running back who takes the ball up the middle. If the edge defender crashes the box, the play turns into an option rollout between the motion back and the quarterback toward the strong side of the field. At any point behind the line of scrimmage, the quarterback can also pass the ball to one of his receivers, giving the defense one more thing to worry about.
Last week, Mercer utilized the attack to perfection, breezing to a 69-0 win over NAIA opponent Point University.
“I guess the easiest way to categorize it would be there’s a lot of three-back runs, and even though it isn’t what people would recognize as the Wishbone, between the motions and so forth, it’s kind of a combination running three-back type runs that are not in spread-out formations,” Saban said of Mercer’s offensive set up. “There are a lot of bunch formations and there’s a lot of motions and adjustments that players have to make. This is totally unique to anything that we’ve played against and will play against the rest of the season.”
Alabama's OL newcomers look solid
While a series of minor injuries prevented Alabama’s offensive line from completely gelling during fall camp, the unit looked pretty solid last week against Miami. The Tide’s front provided Young with enough time to put together his record-breaking performance while also clearing the way for Alabama’s running backs to average 4.43 yards per carry. In total, that led to 44 points and 501 total yards on the afternoon.
Alabama’s starting unit included Evan Neal, Javion Cohen, Darrian Dalcourt, Emil Ekiyor Jr. and Chris Owens from left to right with Kendall Randolph serving as the blocking tight end.
The setup saw Dalcourt make his first career start at center while Owens, who is listed as a co-starter with Dalcourt at center on the depth chart, bounced out to right tackle. Both players put in a solid shift against the Hurricanes.
Owens led Alabama with a 68.6 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus and provided a key block during running back Trey Sanders’ 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Dalcourt earned offensive player of the week honors from Alabama’s coaching staff, posting a 66.7 pass-blocking mark while also clearing the way for some big gains on the ground.
“I think both those guys played well in the game,” Saban said Monday. “I was encouraged by, you know, both players and Dalcourt is obviously one of the players of the week. I thought Chris Owens played really well in the game, tried to play physical, sustained finish blocks.”
Reichard’s streak continues
Don’t get it wrong, Alabama’s high-powered offense would rather see Will Reichard exclusively on extra-point tries if possible. However, when the Tide does have to settle for field goals, it has plenty of confidence in its junior kicker to knock the ball through the uprights.
After putting together a perfect season last year that saw him convert on all 14 of his field-goal attempts as well as each of his 84 extra-point tries, Reichard continued his machine-like efficiency last week. The Hoover, Ala., native was 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts against Miami, hitting from 38 yards, 51 yards and 40 yards out. He also converted on all of his five extra-point tries.
In total, Reichard has made 109 combined field-goal attempts and extra-point tries dating back to a missed extra point at South Carolina during the 2019 season.
“I think that the entire team has a lot of confidence in Will,” Saban said Monday. “The guy has been outstanding last year and so far this year. He did a really good job kicking off in the game, as well as making field goals. So I think the whole team has a lot of confidence in him.
“I guess the offensive team does, too. But the offensive team really wants to score touchdowns, so when they kick a field goal maybe they’re not so happy about it. But they’re happy for him.”
