CFB Preview: No. 1 Alabama Takes on Fresno State

Top-ranked Alabama opened its’ season by defeating Florida State 24-7 last week. The highly anticipated season-opener definitely lived up to the hype.

This Saturday, the Crimson Tide square off against another FSU, but this time it’s Fresno State University.

Alabama

The Crimson Tide roll in the Bulldogs for the season’s home-opener. This Alabama-FSU matchup is anticipated to be a different ball game. First off, this game will kickoff from Bryant-Denny Stadium. Very iconic and historic to college football, but it’s obviously a different field than Mercedes-Benz Stadium, in Atlanta, where the Crimson Tide played last week.

It will also be a slightly different game defensively for Alabama. Last week brought injuries to two outside linebackers in Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis. Miller is out with a bicep injury and Lewis is out with an elbow injury. Christian Miller was actually Terrell Lewis’ replacement, now they are both out.

On the offensive side of the ball, wide-receiver Calvin Ridley was the go to for the Crimson Tide. He compiled seven catches for 82 yards and one touchdown. Running back Damien Harris earned 73 yards on the ground, one touchdown and averaged 8.1 yards per carry.

The Crimson Tide are the top-ranked and top dog in this match-up. Per ESPN polls, Alabama is a 44-point favorite over Fresno State. However, Nick Saban and his Crimson Tide are not overlooking the Bulldogs.

Fresno State

The Bulldogs held Incarnate Word scoreless in their 66-0 win last week. The defensive effort from Fresno State is grabbing some people’s attention, in addition to the offense putting up 66 points.

On Alabama: "They are coached very well, play very hard & it is a great opportunity to play against the No. 1 team in the country." #GoDogs

— Fresno State FB (@FresnoStateFB) September 4, 2017

First year Bulldog head coach Jeff Tedford is a Fresno State alumni who is known for coaching up good quarterbacks. As a head coach, Tedford went 82-57 in 11 years at California.

Overall

Despite Fresno State’s stellar performance last week, we can’t ignore the fact that Alabama held Florida State to one touchdown and 185 yards of total offense.

Kick-off is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. It should be a good as the first meeting between these two teams.