Alabama Football Looking Forward to Playing New Opponent After Grueling Fall Camp

The Crimson Tide hosts Middle Tennessee State on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — You've heard it before. After a long offseason, a football team is ready to see a different opponent on the field.

The Alabama Crimson Tide gets to play another team only 12 times a year. The rest of the year consists of hard practices and scrimmages against your own teammates.

At Alabama, practices are oftentimes more difficult than games. You're going against the best players in the country — who are also trying to take your spot from you.

The Crimson Tide will see its first foe of the season on Saturday night — when No. 4 Alabama hosts Middle Tennessee State in the season opener.

"I'm sure that our team, players are all looking forward to the challenges of the season," head coach Nick Saban said. "I think the biggest challenge for our team is to create an identity for this team, to prove that [they] can be a dangerous team, to prove that [they] have the energy, focus and enthusiasm not just to win a game but to beat the other team. And there is a difference in that, and I think that difference primarily is the way you compete, the way you play, the relentless competitive attitude that you have for 60 minutes in a game to play to a standard, your standard."

The players are the most excited to see another team.

"It’s been a long camp," offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin said. "It felt really long this year, a really hard camp. Yeah, I think it’s going to be nice to play someone else. It’s not fun going up against Jaheim [Oatis], Tim Smith and Tim [Keenan III] every day in practice. They start to get to know you really well. They start knowing your moves. If I know he’s about to bullrush me, I might do a certain thing and he knows I’m thinking what he’s thinking. So it will be nice to go against someone who doesn’t necessarily know what I’m thinking every single play."

"I'm ready to go against a different team. It'll be fun to see a different colored jersey," linebacker Deontae Lawson said.

The Blue Raiders aren't a pushover, however. Middle Tennessee won eight games in 2022-23, including a 14-point victory over then-No. 25 Miami — early in the season. The Blue Raiders finished the season with four consecutive wins — including a 25-23 victory over San Diego State in the Hawaii Bowl.

"They've got a great offensive scheme in terms of how they do things, the problems that they create," Saban said. "It's going to be challenging for our players from that standpoint."

"They're a very aggressive defensive team. A lot of stunts. A lot of blitzes. A lot of negative plays. So it's a very challenging preparation for our offensive team. And they're sound and solid and do a great job on special teams. So this is a challenging team for us to play but again, we're concerned about how do we establish an identity for our team in terms of how we compete and how we play, regardless of who we might play."

Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

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