The Alabama Crimson Tide look to get back to the College Football Playoff after missing out in 2019 and open 2020 against the Missouri Tigers.
In the 2019 season, we saw something we had never seen before: the Alabama Crimson Tide on the outside of the College Football Playoff. But even in a “down” year for Alabama, they still looked dominant and were not easy to defeat, losing their two games by scores of 46 to 41 (LSU) and 48 to 45 (Auburn). Alabama will look to quarterback Mac Jones to get them back into The Playoff, as Jones looks to build off the momentum he built in the action he saw in 2019. In a relief effort to injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Jones threw for over 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns, all while completing 68% of his passes.
Jones will be paired with one of the best running backs in the country in Najee Harris, who finished 2019 with over 1,500 total yards and 20 total touchdowns. These two will have the usual stingy Alabama defense to provide support as well. The Tide welcome back linebacker Dylan Moses, who missed all of 2019 due to a torn ACL but looks to take the lead of an Alabama defense ready to add another championship banner to Alabama’s trophy room.
The Missouri Tigers 2019 season was a tale of two halves, that reversed one another. After losing their season opener, Missouri won five straight, only to lose the next five games in a row, and then finished off the season with a win, giving the Tigers a 6-6 season. And thanks to a postseason ban, that would be the end of Missouri’s 2019 season.
On offense, Missouri has questions at quarterback and will have to replace their top three leading receivers from a year ago but should have a solid run game that provides some life to an offense that could struggle in 2020. For the Tigers’ defense, they are one of the best in defending the run and return the majority of their starters from the 2019 campaign, providing some help to their offense as they figure things out early on in the season.
Alabama is pissed and is ready to put the SEC on notice that last year was a fluke, but does Missouri have it in them to pull off the upset?
Here’s how to watch and bet on the Alabama vs Missouri game
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 26
- Start Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Columbia, Missouri
- Stadium: Memorial Stadium
- TV Info: ESPN
- Odds: Alabama -27.5, O/U 56
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
Prediction: If you look at the recent history of Alabama’s season openers it has smooth sailing for them, and that’s against teams that are outside of the SEC and could provide an argument that they were better than this current Missouri team. Jones and Harris pair up for a couple of scores and the Alabama defense handles business on their side of the ball. Alabama takes no time making their “We’re Back” statement as they leave Columbia with the season-opening win.
Score: Alabama 45, Missouri 13.
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