Alabama football plays its yearly matchup with an FCS opponent on Saturday, facing Mercer in Tuscaloosa. The Bears enter the game 9-1, playing out of the Southern Conference, while the Crimson Tide blew out LSU in Baton Rouge last week, moving to 7-2 on the season.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Before the game, here are three questions for the Crimson Tide to answer.
Can Alabama win in businesslike fashion?
Nick Saban isn’t around anymore to browbeat anyone into believing Mercer has a real chance on Saturday. The Crimson Tide should win easily.
The main question here is whether UA can do so in a way that avoids any sort of drama. When Alabama has played poorly this season, it hasn’t usually been able to beat teams in the way it could at the height of the Saban era.
Perhaps the talent gap is so large in this one that it won’t matter. However, for the sanity of fans, UA should try and make sure this one is all but over before halftime.
How will replacing Que Robinson go?
One of the few national champions remaining on Alabama’s roster is out for the season. Defensive edge rusher Que Robinson was injured against LSU, and will miss the rest of the campaign, requiring UA to build around some young players at the position defensive coordinator Kane Wommack calls the “wolf.”
For the majority of snaps, it will be up to redshirt freshmen Qua Russaw and Yhonzae Pierre.
“Losing (Robinson), it hurt,” Russaw said Tuesday. “But like coach always says, next man up. So me and Yhonzae gotta step up now.”
Inside linebacker Jihaad Campbell will also likely play some snaps on the outside. However Alabama divvies up the reps, it’s a crucial position to get right, as the Crimson Tide heads toward its final two SEC games before the postseason begins.
How will the younger players perform?
Once again, Nick Saban isn’t here to yell at anyone for the mere suggestion that Alabama might finish the game with some backups. If The Crimson Tide’s key starters are in late in the game, something has gone horribly wrong.
If a player hasn’t seen the field yet this season, they can play in every game the rest of the way without burning their redshirts. That should make it so that some of the younger members of the Alabam roster can get on the field.
Offensively, it could be a good opportunity to get a look at the quarterbacks. Backup Ty Simpson will especially be looking for a revenge game, after fumbling away an easy touchdown in the 2023 Chattanooga game.
