On Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide will face off with the Missouri Tigers in the conference- only season opener for just the seventh time in Alabama football history.
The history between these two teams may not be as long as other opponents to Crimson Tide will face this year, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be interesting.
Alabama is 4-2 in the overall series with the Tigers and is 3-0 against Missouri under Nick Saban. Not only that, but over the series history, Alabama has outscored Missouri, 178- 108. And during the Saban era, the Tide has outscored the Tigers, 123- 33.
Some Alabama fans may overlook this game as an “easy” game for the Tide, but Missouri has a chance to be better than people think.
They may be ranked one of the last teams in the SEC East, but they certainly have talent on their team.
Sure, Missouri will be missing several players due to the coronavirus, but don’t count them out just yet.
Let’s focus on the quarterback position for a second.
They have two guys who will more than likely be seeing playing time against Alabama.
Both Connor Bazelak and Shawn Robinson are the exact same size, 6-3 220. But they both have different skill sets.
Robinson, who sat out the 2019 season after transferring from TCU, seems to be the favorite to start this season. At TCU in 2018 he recorded 204 passes (60.8% completion rate) for 1,334 yards, 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, while also running for 230 yards and another 3 TDs.
He’s a dual threat quarterback who has the chance to really help the Tigers’ offense this season. You can expect to see the Tigers have a lot of read option and read-zone plays while Robinson is in the game. He’s fast, quick on his feet, and also has a pretty accurate arm, especially with quick slants and short routes. But further down the field, he becomes less accurate, which could be an issue for the Tigers this season.
Although Robinson spent the 2019 season on the sidelines, he has had a year to improve his skills as well as learn the entire Missouri offense.
As for Bazelak, he was the nation’s No. 10 quarterback in the 2019 class. As a senior at Archbishop Alter High School in Ohio, led his team to a state championship appearance after winning 13 straight games.
The problem is, Bazelak only had 3 appearances last season before redshirting. Although he completed 15/21 passes last season, he still lacks the experience Robinson has.
He’s a more typical pro-style quarterback who has a cannon for an arm.
If Bazelek can stay healthy this season, he has a chance to win the starting job.
Who knows, maybe Missouri will find a way to utilize both quarterbacks this season. Especially if you have a pro-style quarterback and also a dual-threat quarterback.
Regardless, Saturday’s game will be exciting to watch, and many questions, for both Alabama and Missouri.
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