Alabama vs Miami prediction and game preview.
Alabama vs Miami Broadcast
Date: Saturday, September 4
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Network: ABC
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
– All of the CFN Fearless Predictions
Alabama (0-0) vs Miami (0-0) Game Preview
Why Alabama Will Win
The linebackers. America, welcome to what might be the best position unit in all of college football.
Bama obviously has talent across the board, and over the last few years the wide receivers were the superstars, but the defensive side has the main men in 2021 with four future NFL starters in the linebacking corps.
The Miami offense improved by leaps and bounds in 2020 after a disastrous run in 2019, and most of it was due to QB D’Eriq King. Back from a knee injury suffered at the end of last season, he’s everything to the Hurricane offense, and Bama has the D to keep him in check.
The Canes are going to be good on the offensive line, and there are plenty of weapons, but there won’t be too many problems as long as those Tide linebackers make sure King is a pocket passer and keep him from taking off.
– Week 1 Schedule, Predictions For Every Game
Why Miami Will Win
King has to be the best player on the field – and he might be.
Of course Miami knows Alabama wants to keep No. 1 from running – there aren’t any limitations on King’s knee – but he’s been around long enough to have seen it all. He’s not going to force anything, and he’s not going to make the big mistakes that could quickly end this with good Tide field position and easy scores.
King is the old veteran in this while his counterpart on the other side – Bryce Young – has all the pressure in the world to be amazing right out of the gate.
The Miami defense might be breaking in a slew of new parts, but the secondary is going to be great thanks to a pass rush that should be among the best in the ACC.
As talented as the Bama offense is, it’s still replacing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, Mac Jones, Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, and three offensive linemen. The Canes have the athleticism and speed to mess up the new guys.
– Week 1 College Football Expert Picks
What’s Going To Happen
The last time these two met, George Teague came up with one of the greatest defensive plays in national championship history for a Crimson Tide D that dominated Miami 34-13 in the 1993 Sugar Bowl.
You want real dominance? Try Alabama in season openers.
The last loss was to UCLA back in 2001, and ever since beating Kent State in 2011, Nick Saban’s teams have faced Michigan, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, USC, Florida State, Louisville, Duke, and Missouri.
9-0, all wins by double-digits, and the combined score of those nine victories … 351-113, or an average of 39-12.5. You have to go back to 2006 – a 25-17 win over Hawaii – for an Alabama season opener to be close.
Miami might be the second-best team in the ACC by the time the season is done – or at least in the top four – but even this rebuilt Alabama team is at a whole other level.
The Tide offense will be terrific, but it’ll be the defense that steals the show in Atlanta.
– CFN 2021 Preview of all 130 teams
Alabama vs Miami Prediction, Line
Alabama 41, Miami 17
Alabama -18.5, o/u: 62
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3
Must See Rating: 4
5: The Many Saints of Newark
1: Space Jam: A New Legacy
[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]