Alabama Football Three Keys: Duke

Alabama faces Duke on Saturday in Atlanta, Ga. Here are your three keys to a Alabama win over Duke.

The No. 2 team in the nation opens up its season on Saturday against Duke in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Alabama seems to love the neutral site openers and they will be looking to make a big statement after their 14-1 season last year ended with a crushing 44-16 defeat in the national championship game.

Key 1 – Will the suspensions matter?

As a college football fan one of the worst pieces of news you can hear in the lead up to a game is that player suspensions are immanent. This always seems to be at its most prevalent either at the beginning of the season or just before a bowl game as players have had long periods of time to fall foul of team rules.

That is the situation for Alabama here as four of their players will miss at least a portion of the game through suspension. The biggest name among the bunch is star running back Najee Harris, and he will be joined by junior running back Brian Robins, linebacker Terrell Lewis, and wide receiver DeVonta Smith.

Harris and Robinson will miss the first half of the game as punishment for missing a team function. Losing Harris is a big blow as he is expected to be the lead back in 2019 after rushing for 783 yards and four touchdowns as the third option in the backfield a year ago.

Key 2 – Attack the passing game

Duke just graduated a quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL in Daniel Jones. It may have been a controversial pick – Duke finished just 62nd in the country in passing by S&P+ – but this was an attack that was capable of monster games.

When kept their numbers low was that when Duke was bad in the passing game, it was very bad. This is now a passing attack that has been completely rebuilt, with the Blue Devils have lost their top six targets through their air along with the signal-caller that made it happen.

Quentin Harris will step in under center, with the senior having been a four year backup at this point. He is a dual-threat athlete, on that can make plays with his legs, but he has never seen a defense like the one Alabama is about to throw at him. Attacking the passing game early and having Harris running for his life will put ‘Bama on the road to victory.

Key 3 – The passing game needs to find a rhythm

There is no excuse for Tua Tagovailoa and the Alabama passing game this fall. The quarterback will be surrounded by the best wide receiver corps in the country and he has the machines in the backfield to keep defenses honest. He is also playing behind an offensive line that will dominate everything it sees early in the season.

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 2:30 PM CT (3:30 PM ET). Watch on the ABC Network.

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