The Alabama Crimson Tide have one more week to determine their offensive depth chart before diving into the meat of their schedule. The team might have dropped one in the rankings, but that is not effecting the preparation for the Tide as they face off against Southern Miss before playing Florida. With their quarterback competition still going strong, Alabama will make key decisions during this matchup.
Alabama is coming off a 41-0 win against Florida Atlantic, but that was not enough to counter Oregon's 46-27 win over Michigan State as the Ducks took over the No. 2 spot on the charts. Saban was not concerned about the drop in spots, but more so happy with the fact that his team has put up 1,158 yards of offense in two games compared to their opponents racking up just 538 combined.
The game against Southern Miss will be big for Blake Sims and Philip Coker. While Sims played the entire matchup against West Virginia, Coker got a majority of the work last week. Both players passed for over 200-yards while Sims looked comfortable overall, Coker tossed the better long ball.It is assumed that they will once again rotate this game before Saban possibly makes a decision.
The quarterbacks are not the only storyline for Alabama. Amari Cooper has 319 yards through two games off 25 catches. He tied the school record last week for yards per game. Meanwhile TJ Yeldon continues his impressive campaign with 169 yards through two games. With the quarterbacks passing so much, Yeldon's legs have gotten a rest.
The Southern Miss Eagles come in a 47-point underdog. They finished a 1-11 season last year and opened with a loss to Mississippi State. They did win against Alcorn State as quarterback Nick Mullen tossed two touchdowns and running back Ito Smith had 118 rushing yards.
Sims will likely start again this week as the two quarterbacks continue to rotate. The Tide need to make some kind of move this week as they head to Florida next week.
