Alabama vs. Utah State football preview, prediction for Week 1

Preview, pick for Alabama vs. Utah State on the Week 1 college football schedule

James Parks | Sep 3, 2022

Alabama vs. Utah State football preview, prediction for Week 1 /

College Football Playoff runner-up Alabama opens the 2022 season at home with a non-conference date against Utah State on Saturday.

Once again, Alabama comes in as the No. 1 team in the top 25 rankings, and while Utah State didn't make the polls, it did last season, a breakout campaign under first year coach Blake Anderson.

Here's what you need to know about the Week 1 opener.

Alabama vs. Utah football preview, prediction

Scenes at an Alabama Crimson Tide game during the college football season. — Alabama opens the 2022 college football schedule against Utah State / USA Today Images

How to watch

When: Sat., Sept. 3

Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern

TV: SEC Network

Stream: fuboTV

Utah State vs. Alabama odds, spread, lines

Line: Alabama -41.5

O/U: 62

Moneyline: N/A

FPI pick: Alabama 99.3%

Alabama vs. Utah State: What to watch for

Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs was one of the best players in the college football transfer portal rankings.

1. Alabama's new transfers. UA signed a small but elite group of transfers this offseason: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, CB Eli Ricks, WR Jermaine Burton, WR Tyler Harrell, and OT Tyler Steen. All are expected to make an immediate impact, especially the trio of offensive skill additions, who replace a pair of departing receivers and give the Tide a major boost at tailback who doubles as a capable receiver.

2. Utah State on a big stage. The Aggies impressed a lot of people in 2021, and rightly so, winning 11 games, taking the MWC, beating Oregon State in a bowl, and making the AP top 25. Now they go against the class of the sport, and while no one is predicting an upset, or even a close game, this is a chance for the program to make a statement of a kind, that it at least belongs on the same field.

3. Jahmyr Gibbs will run and run. And run... Utah State let the Huskies rush for 245 yards in their opener with an average of over 6.0 yards per carry. A single UConn back ran for 190 yards and almost 10 ypc. Enter Gibbs, who came to UA from Georgia Tech with 2,768 total career yards and 14 TDs in 2 seasons and is now running behind a Tide line that will easily dominate Utah State's overmatched front.

Utah State vs. Alabama: Fast Facts

+ Utah State is 6-63 against AP ranked teams, winning 5 of the last 14

+ This is Nick Saban's 96th career game coaching a No. 1 team, a record, with Woody Hayes and Bobby Bowden (45) coming in second all time

+ USU has won its last 8 away games, the longest active streak in the nation

+ Alabama has scored 30 points in 49 of 56 games dating back to 2018 and 40-plus in 40 of the last 56

+ Utah State is 1-17 against SEC teams all time, beating Kentucky in 1970

+ Alabama allowed 309 total TDs since 2009, the fewest in college football

+ USU quarterback Logan Bonner threw 19 TD passes while being blitzed last season, the 3rd most nationally

+ Tide linebacker Will Anderson led the nation with 17.5 sacks and 34.5 tackles for loss, a record since 2000

+ Utah State is 12-1 under Anderson when scoring 20-plus points

+ Bama is 162-9 (.947) when leading at the half under Saban and 146-4 (.973) when leading by 7 or more

+ The Aggies are 9-0 under Anderson when they have fewer turnovers and 11-1 when they have fewer than 3 TOs

+ Alabama holds the record with 10 wins against AP No. 1 teams

+ Utah State is the 1st team in FBS history to go from 1 win to 11 wins in one season

+ Alabama has lost just 2 games to non-conference opponents in the regular season, both in 2007

+ Utah State has won or lost by a TD or less in 5 of its last 6 against Power Five teams

What happens? Week 1 prediction and pick

It's the No. 1 Crimson Tide in the season opener. It won't be pretty.

Except if you're an Alabama fan, in which case it'll be great, but don't be surprised if the Aggies don't just roll over right away. Logan Bonner is a veteran quarterback with some decent targets who can chip away on short and medium gainers and bother a defense that might be overconfident.

But the talent discrepancy that Alabama has built over the last 15 years, the foundation of arguably college football's greatest ever dynasty, hasn't budged.

A 41.5 point line is actually disrespectful to the Aggies, but it's not breaking news that the Tide will roll.

College Football HQ prediction: Alabama 48, Utah State 14

College football rankings

According to AP Top 25 poll

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Published Sep 3, 2022

JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.