Miami Hurricanes are next up for champion Alabama to start 2021 season
The 2020 Alabama Crimson Tide completed one of the most impressive seasons in college football history on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Dismantling Ohio State, 52-24, for the College Football Playoff title was the culmination of a never-before-seen campaign, going 13-0 through an SEC-only 10-game regular-season schedule, an SEC Championship Game victory over Florida and semifinal win over Notre Dame before Monday’s blowout win.
The next game the Crimson Tide play will be against the Miami Hurricanes. The two teams kick off the 2021 season on Sept. 4 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
While it’s a game already at the forefront of UM fans’ minds, it hasn’t been anything near that for Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“I really don’t know much about Miami at all,” said Saban on Tuesday morning after winning his record seventh title. “Obviously, we had a big game [Monday] night, had a big game last week, had a big game before that in the SEC Championship Game.”
Alabama will lose much of its talent that was on the Hard Rock Stadium field Monday night, with a number of potential first-round picks that could rival Miami’s record of six set in the 2004 NFL draft.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have had pleasant offseason news in players opting to return. Quarterback D’Eriq King, albeit having to recover from an ACL tear in his right knee, running back Cam’Ron Harris, wide receiver Michael Harley, tight end Will Mallory and safety Bubba Bolden are key players that have indicated they will remain in college for the 2021 season.
Even if Alabama standouts such as receivers DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, quarterback Mac Jones, running back Najee Harris, offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, defensive lineman Christian Barmore and cornerback Patrick Surtain II declare for the draft as expected, Alabama just reloads talent.
Despite how much can change on the roster, Alabama is already the favorite to win it all next year, according to BetOnline, with 7-to-2 odds. UM is tied for 16th on that list, at 50-to-1 odds, after finishing 8-3 in 2020 with consecutive losses to North Carolina in the regular-season finale and Oklahoma State in the Cheez-It Bowl.
“The first thing we do is talk to the players about the future,” said Saban about the Tide’s offseason ahead of facing Miami. “Next week, we’ll talk to every player on the team about strengths, weaknesses, things they need to do to work on in the offseason to get better, whether it’s from a personal standpoint, whether it’s an academic standpoint, a behavioral standpoint, or a football standpoint — the process of trying to get our players to improve.
“Then, managing the team that we have. I think, in this day and age, the way your roster can move, you don’t know for sure exactly how that’s going to be right now. Guys going out for the draft, some players transferring. We’ll just have to take it one day at a time, but that process begins immediately.”
It will also be a different offensive coordinator drawing up plays for Alabama as Steve Sarkisian, incredibly successful freeing up his playmakers all season and especially on Monday, moves on to be the head coach at Texas. The Hurricanes, too, have coaching staff alterations to complete.
Jones’ postgame comments that the 2020 Alabama squad was “the best team to ever play” could ruffle some feathers with Hurricanes fans, who feel their 2001 team might have something to say about that. Those remarks may make Miami fans more eager for an upset win over the Tide before they take the field, but for that to serve as any kind of UM player motivation in nine months is unlikely.
The Hurricanes have said they expect King to be able to recover from the knee injury suffered on Dec. 29 in the bowl loss to Oklahoma State. Should he be unable to go, Tyler Van Dyke, a freshman this past season, or incoming freshman Jake Garcia may have to lead UM against Alabama with veteran N’Kosi Perry entering the transfer portal.
