Nick Saban and company can start preparing for a new opponent for season opener.
Alabama will open its 10-game, only conference schedule on its way to the Missouri Tigers on Sept. 26, it was announced Monday The Paul Finebaum Show. The Crimson Tide possesses a 4-2 edge in the all-time series and most defeated the Tigers, 39-10, in 2018.
Missouri is one of two opponents who were added to Alabama’s new schedule when the league chose to move to a league-only format, along with a home game against Kentucky.
Missouri lost its 2017 Open season to Wyoming, but won the next five games against West Virginia, Southeast Missouri State, South Carolina, Troy and Ole Miss. But the schedule ran on the Tigers, who dropped their next five games against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. Missouri won the final in the regular season over Arkansas, 24-14, but that was not enough to save the job of head coach Barry Odom. He was fired the next day, and the Tigers hired Eliah Drinkwitz from Appalachian State to take over their football program.
Drinkwitz inherits a program that must find a new starting quarterback with Kelly Bryant, the former Clemson signal caller exhausting his liability, as well as three offensive line starters and some of the top offensive receiving threats from last year . The defense is in much better shape, though it will look to improve after a second half. There is some continuity for staff, however, as Drinkwitz retains some of Odom’s coaching staff, including defense coordinator Ryan Walters in hopes of combining defensive stability and offensive makeover.
Mizzou has four quarterbacks with a chance to win the starting lineup dropped by Kelly. There’s TCU transfer Shawn Robinson, redshirt junior Taylor Powell, redshirt freshman Connor Bazelak – who started the 2019 finals but suffered a torn ACL – and freshman Brady Cook. Which quarterback claims the first-team spot shares the backfield with some talented tailbacks with Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie. The former has run at least 700 yards in each of the last three seasons, while Drinkwitz must find creative ways to use the latter.
On defense, the Tigers bring back eight players with at least five games of starting experience. One of Missouri’s top players on that side of the ball is linebacker Nick Bolton, who led the defense in tackles with 107, which was good for second place in the SEC. He also recorded 7.5 tackles for loss, eight pass breakups and two interceptions in 2019. At the front, senior defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside is back after passing the team with 6.5 sacks, while safters Joshuah Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie combined for 17 pass breakups and eight tackles for loss.
?? WEEK 1 IN THE SEC ?? pic.twitter.com/Fn85XUvsih
– SEC Network (@SECNetwork) August 17, 2020
The full Crimson Tide football schedule in 2020 will be released at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. Saban will also address local reporters following today’s practice via Zoom at 6 p.m.
Did you know that BOL has a podcast? The Built By BamaOnLine Podcast brings you the latest Alabama news and insights from Travis Reier, Charlie Potter, Hank South and Tim Watts. Capture the latest episode over here of subscribe to iTunes today!
Contact Charlie Potter via personal message or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).
