Atlanta, GA- The college football season is finally here and Atlanta, GA will play host to one of the premier matchups of week one as the Alabama Crimson Tide square off against the Duke Blue Devils in the annual Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game from Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday night.
Heavily favored in the matchup is the preseason number two ranked team in the country in Alabama, who will take the field for the first time since losing to The University of Clemson in last season’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Leading the Crimson Tide is legendary head coach Nick Saban, who returns for his 13th season as he begins his quest for a seventh national championship, despite the loss to Clemson last season. Alabama returns much of its talented team from last season and should contend for a place in the College Football Playoff out of the SEC West.
Headlining this Alabama team is junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who led all of college football last year with 43 passing touchdowns as a sophomore. The Heisman hopeful is looking to build off of last year’s impressive season and may have the talent around him to do so.
Flanking Tagovailoa is one of the best receiving corps in the country, including 2018’s Biletnikoff Award winner in Jerry Jeudy, as well as fellow juniors Henry Ruggs III and DeVonta Smith. The receiver group overall returns 201 catches for 3,597 yards and 38 touchdowns of production. They’ll have a tough task in week one, as they face against a Blue Devil secondary that returns a lot of production as well and should be something to keep an eye on throughout the game.
This is Alabama’s sixth Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game under Saban, the most of any team and the Tide are a perfect 5-0.
Despite being the heavy underdogs in week one, the Duke Blue Devils football program has built into a team you cannot overlook under head coach David Cutcliffe. Making six bowl games in the last seven seasons, the Blue Devils have become competitive in the ACC’s Coastal Division and will try and shock the world with a major upset on Saturday.
Duke will have to take on Alabama with a new face taking snaps under center, however, after losing talented quarterback Daniel Jones to the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Taking over for the Blue Devils is senior Quentin Harris. A backup for the entirety of his college career thus far, Harris has learned behind the previous starter in Jones, while also being coached by one of the premier quarterback coaches in Cutcliffe. Duke believes Harris is ready for this opportunity but will need to be perfect against an always talented defense at Alabama if they are going to hang with the Tide.
As mentioned before, the Blue Devils return a lot of production to what might be their biggest strength in their defensive secondary. Four starters return for the Duke defense for 2019, as safeties Michael Carter II, Dylan Singleton, and Marquis Waters, along with cornerback Leonard Johnson, make up a secondary that finished 36th nationally in pass defense last year. Much like Harris, they will need to play almost perfectly, with a difficult task at hand in slowing down the Crimson Tide.
Overall, this will be a matchup of two well-coached teams. The difference between them comes from the immense roster talent advantage for Alabama, which may prove to be too much to overcome for Duke. Many outlets have the Crimson Tide winning by multiple touchdowns, as they look to begin their march towards another post-season run.
Alabama and Duke will start play at the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game from Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
Written by Brian Pohl
