Why Alabama is Back Hosting Season Openers: All Things CW

It'll probably be a long time before the Crimson Tide plays another neutral-site opener, and what oddsmakers say about Alabama players.

The last time the University of Alabama football team opened a season at Bryant-Denny Stadium, there were four main story lines heading into the game. 

1) Junior-college transfer Duron Carter was cleared academically and the wide receiver was finally on the Crimson Tide roster (of course, he never played a game for Alabama).

2) Nick Saban had yet to announce a starter between sophomore AJ McCarron and redshirt freshman Phillip Sims, saying “It’s out of fairness to them that both guys get an opportunity in this game.” (McCarron end up being a three-year starter).

3) Barrett Jones moved to left tackle, but would play in three different spots during the opener (he won the Outland Trophy at left tackle and a year later he moved to center and won the Rimington Trophy).  

4) It was Alabama's first game after the April 27th tornado. 

There were remembrances, a moment of silence, thank you ovations for emergency rescue workers, and ribbons strategically placed on helmets and on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. 

The Crimson Tide subsequently dismembered Saban's alma mater, Kent State, 48-7.

The tornado recovery was obviously the most important thing that day, but it was also a transition point in Alabama's scheduling approach. Three years previous, the No. 24 Crimson Tide had opened the 2008 season with an impressive win against No. 9 Clemson, 34-10, in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic.

The game had huge ramifications, and even ended up on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Among them: 

• It signaled to college football that a new era had arrived with Saban at Alabama. 

• It launched the Crimson Tide's undefeated regular season, a run that carried through the 2009 national championship, and sparked a dynasty that's still going with additional titles in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020.

• It marked the beginning of the end for Tommy Bowden at Clemson, which would promote Dabo Swinney mid-season. 

• Finally, high-profile neutral-site games we suddenly in vogue, and everyone wanted Alabama. 

It made sense, and was like adding a bowl game on the front end of the schedule, played in NFL stadiums or in settings where championship games are hosted. A marquee opponent could be used as offseason motivation for the players, plus it always looked good to recruits.  

Saban used it to his full advantage. 

Overall, he's 15-0 in season openers at Alabama. The Crimson Tide has outscored its opponents 610-176 in those games and outgained the opposition, 6,658-3,273. 

That's an average score of 40.67-11.7, and yards differential of 443.9-218.2.

Just one opponent managing to be within two touchdowns (West Virginia in 2014).

Nick Saban Season Openers

• 2007 Western Carolina, at Tuscaloosa, W 52-6
• 2008 Clemson, at Atlanta, W 34-0 - $4.17 million 
• 2009 Virginia Tech, at Atlanta, W 34-24
• 2010 San Jose State, at Tuscaloosa, W 48-3
• 2011 Kent State, at Tuscaloosa, W 48-7
• 2012 Michigan, at Arlington, Tex., W 41-14
• 2013 Virginia Tech, at Atlanta, W 35-10
• 2014 West Virginia, at Atlanta, W 33-23
• 2015 Wisconsin, at Arlington, Tex., W 35-17 
• 2016 Southern California, at Arlington, Tex., W 52-6 
• 2017 Florida State, at Atlanta, W 24-7 
• 2018 Louisville, at Orlando, Fla., W 51-14 
• 2019 Duke, at Atlanta, W 42-3 
• 2020 Missouri, at Columbia, Mo., W 38-19 
• 2021 Miami, at Atlanta, W 44-13 5 

But things have changed, and Alabama has gone back in the other direction, of signing high-profile home-and-home series with the biggest programs , often for Week 1 or 2 

The lineup includes Texas this year and next, Wisconsin (2024 and 2025), Florida State (2025 and 2026), West Virginia (2026 and 2027), Notre Dame (2028 and 2029), Georgia Tech (2030 and 2031), Virginia Tech (2034 and 2035) and Arizona (2032 and 2033). It also signed Oklahoma, but it and Texas are getting ready to join the SEC. 

Part of the change was to appease the fan base, which coveted more high-profile home games. Too often the Bryant-Denny schedule was a couple of strong SEC games, a couple of league games that weren't expected to be close, and three non-conference games that didn't excite anyone.  

While the facility was given a $107.17 million update that was completed before the revamped 2020 season began, and is still slated for yet another renovation as part of the third and final phase of the Crimson Standard (10-year, $600 million initiative), maximizing those opportunities became a priority. 

Financially, the neutral-site games weren't as appealing, either. Granted, the payout grew from the $4.17 million combined that Alabama and Clemson got in 2008, to the $6 million the Crimson Tide landed eight years later to face USC in Arlington, Texas. It crushed the Trojans 52-6, but a good part of the rewards were offset by traveling costs and logistics.

Finally, the matchups were becoming increasingly difficult, as interest from other programs waned. In 2019, the Chick-fil-A Bowl scheduled Alabama against Duke and the outcome was a predictable rout. 

So no more neutral-site openers for Alabama, at least not for a while. 

Consequently, the biggest indicator of how things have changed since that Kent State game is with this statistic for next week's home opener. Alabama is paying $1.91 million to Utah State, the third-highest total for a visiting team in NCAA history.

Crimson Tide Odds and Ends 

If you're looking for some production benchmarks for what Alabama's top players might do this season, consider the following over-under odds for the regular season from BetOnline:

Bryce Young

Passing Yards: 3,800½
Passing Touchdowns: 37½
Interceptions: 4½

Jahmyr Gibbs 

Rushing Yards: 1,000½
Rushing Touchdowns: 10½

Will Anderson Jr. 

Sacks: 13 

Tide-Bits

• Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne told WVTM 13 that the athletic department is hiring four licensed social workers to support student-athlete mental health. “Our biggest issue [since COVID] has been mental health issues with our student-athletes. The isolation, the challenges that came along with that were significant, and we’re still dealing with that today.” 

• Deion Sanders and Saban are back on good terms and they recently shot another Aflac ad to raise money for their favorite respective causes. When Sanders was asked about Saban's latest contract during SportsCenter, he said: “Coach Saban is our magna cum laude [of coaching]. He is our guy. You would not have questioned Michael Jordan and you don't question LeBron [James] when they are given a contract of this status.

“Every opportunity I get to sit with him on this wonderful Aflac set, I'm gleaning from him just some of the fruit and nuggets he's able to spit to me. I’m happy. Well deserved. … I wish I wouldn’t catch anyone saying anything about the contract Saban has warranted. He is the G.O.A.T.”

• Eddie Jackson is a player to watch this season. Under coach Matt Eberflus and coordinator Alan Williams, the Bears made him more of a free safety again after drafting Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker in the second round, and moving Jackson back off the line of scrimmage. The Bears hope he'll be more like the player in 2018, who had seven takeaways. Chicago lead the league that year with 36, but had 19 in 2019 (22nd), 18 in 2020 (25th) and 16 last season (26th). 

• Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts were extensively asked about each other this week as the Dolphins and Eagles held joint practices prior to their preseason finale on Saturday. 

“Dude’s a hard worker,” Tagovailoa said on Hurts. “In the weight room, in the classroom, on the field, like, dude had to be the first into the weight room, had to be the first out onto the field.”

He added: “It really tells you how he goes about his life. It tells you about how he kind of sees things, how he looks at things. Obviously, he’s a competitor. Never wants to be less.”

As for Hurts ...  

Jalen Hurts 🤝🏾 Tua Tagovailoa

Hurts says that Tua gave him advice on Falcons defense last year from things he saw in their joint practice and returned the favor on nuggets about Patriots defense for Tua during the season. They want to see each other win. pic.twitter.com/P23LvNxlHh

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 25, 2022

• If you were wondering how former Alabama walk-on Keelan Cox fared during his first game with Wyoming, he unfortunately didn't play during the 38-6 loss to Illinois. The defensive end who was moving up the depth chart is out for the season after suffering a fractured right hip in practice, similar to the injury Tagovailoa suffered.

5 Things That Got Our Attention This Week

1) Out of the Ordinary?

If Bryce Young has a subpar year, Alabama fans may be quick to blame Dr. Pepper’s Fansville ad campaign. Last year was the first time it included an active player as Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei signed an NIL deal. Obviously it didn't go so well, which has to make one wonder if Young stumbles if a new ad campaign may be "Just What The Dr. Ordered."

2) The next level in NIL?

The Los Angeles Times reported that football powerhouse St. John Bosco announced that the entire team can participate in an NIL deal with KONGIQ Sports Performance, and is believed to be the first high school team-wide agreement in history.

Dan Wolken of USA Today suggested it could “open the floodgates to something much bigger,” and he's probably correct. 

Here's the question here: What happens when sponsors get involved and start trying to steer prospects to college football programs they do business with?

3) Still making up the deficit

Minnesota's director of athletics Mark Coyle reminded everyone of something regarding the Big Ten media rights agreement:  

"During the pandemic, we finished with a loan of about $21.5 million that we still have to pay back. I think people have forgotten about that. That's why this media deal is a big part of our program as we move forward. ... Obviously, we knew this new media deal would be coming and that it was going to have an impact on our program. But there are things we have to take care of in-house as we look at that media deal and how it will help us compete in the best conference in the America." 

Meanwhile, the pandemic is still ongoing. Even at Alabama, the number of covid cases has sharply been on the rise since students returned to campus.  

4) Missouri with the blues

Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said that the department was understaffed by about 30 percent when she arrived in Columbia in 2021, and morale was low. 

“Change can be challenging to a team that was already doing two jobs per person," she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "And then all of a sudden, you have change in leadership. That’s challenging. You have a pandemic. That’s challenging. So I wanted to make sure I listened. But we have clear-cut expectations. We gave folks opportunities, but in the end, we have to do what’s right for Mizzou. And we have to build a high-performing culture.” 

She noted that as of last week, Mizzou was 84 percent fully staffed to its pre-pandemic numbers. 

5) Mo' money 

Remember the recent $450 million expansion of Kyle Field, which bumped capacity up to 102,500?

Texas A&M is at it again, and announced 23 new south side suites at the stadium, which come with their own level in the south end zone, private access up and down the elevators, and an operable glass wall to open up the suite towards the field.

The suites will be ready in time for the first game of the 2023 season. 

Rule changes

A quick reminder on some of the changes made for the 2022 season:

Targeting Carryover Appeal: In games that have instant replay, when a targeting foul occurs in the second half, the carryover penalty (of sitting out the first half of that player's next game) will be eligible for further appeal. 

Deceptive Injury Timeout: Schools and conferences will be able to report questionable scenarios to the national coordinator of officials, who will review and provide feedback. However, any penalties levied would be up to the conference office or school involved.

Blocking Below the Waist: It may only be done by linemen and stationary backs inside the tackle box. 

Sliding: If a ball carrier simulates a feet-first slide, the runner is to be declared down at that spot.

Defensive holding: It will still be a 10-yard penalty, but with  an automatic first down.

Did you Notice?

• Tennessee athletic director Danny White congratulated Allen Greene on getting out of Auburn. "Congratulations @AGreeneIV for getting the heck out of a crazy situation for greener pastures! I admire how you managed that chaos with class & integrity,” White wrote on Twitter. “Look forward to seeing your next chapter!” Greene was hired by Auburn from Buffalo in Jan. 2018. 

• SI’s Preseason College Football All-Americans

• Saturday's Week 0 matchups included one that was of special interest to us, former SI/FanNation analyst Jim Mora Jr. making his debut with UConn, against Utah State. The Huskies had a 14-point lead after the first quarter, but starting quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson  went down with a knee injury and they eventually took a 31-20 loss.

We say congratulations to Mora anyway, for successfully getting back to his first love in football, coaching, and to Utah State we'll see you next week at Bryant-Denny Stadium.  

• Finally, it only seems appropriate to acknowledge the passing of Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson this week. Years ago, when I was just starting out as a sports journalist I had the chance to meet and interview Len about his fight with prostate cancer. He was one of the most personable and friendly sports personalities that I ever met, and will be missed. 

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW appears every week on BamaCentral.