2011 College Football: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Kent State Golden Flashes

The Alabama Crimson Tide opens the season Saturday against the Golden Flashes of Kent State.

Rarely do you see a team with two quarterbacks competing for playing time ranked as high as number two in the preseason ranks, but that is exactly where the Crimson Tide find themselves.

Alabama comes into the game trying to replace 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, 2011 NFL first round draft choice Julio Jones, and 2011 draft choice Greg McElroy.

Alabama’s high preseason rank proves that most analysts believe the Crimson Tide have the players to take over the starting positions and continue their march towards the SEC and possibly a National Championship.

The heart and soul of the Alabama team is their rock solid defense. The Crimson Tide returns 10 starters from a team that ranked amongst the best in the country in 2010.

Kent State enters the game overmatched in every aspect of the game.

The Golden Flashes do have hope in quarterback Spencer Keith. Keith is second in school history in pass completion percentage. Playing a team like Alabama in the opener will not help his numbers.

Kent State is 0-21 against ranked teams. Could Saturday be the day when the Golden Flashes get their first win against a ranked school? I doubt it, but that is why they play the game.

Here is a quick breakdown of Saturday’s game including: starting lineups for both teams, updated depth charts, injury updates, and finally a matchup breakdown.

Alabama Crimson Tide Starting Lineup and Depth Chart

The starting quarterback position for Alabama is still up in the air.

Coach Nick Saban said, “Just because one guy comes onto the field first on Saturday does not mean he is the starter. Each player will receive playing time.”

Coach Saban is referring to the quarterback competition between A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims.

I am going to list McCarron first in the depth chart because I think he will be the first quarterback on the field. That does not mean he will be the first on the field the next week when the Crimson Tide travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State.

Here is the projected starting lineups and depth chart for Alabama on Saturday (starters in bold).

OFFENSE                                                                  DEFENSE

QB. 10 A.J. McCarron                                              DE. 92 Damion Square

QB. 14 Phillip Sims                                                   DE. 49 Ed Stinson

RB. 3 Trent Richardson                                            DE. 54 Jesse Williams

RB. 42 Eddie Lacy                                                     DE. 90 Quinton Dial

WR. 4 Marquis Maze                                                NT. 99 Josh Chapman

WR. 11 Brandon Gibson                                             NT. 58 Nick Gentry

WR. 2 DeAndrew White                                           LB. 5  Jerrell Harris

WR. 7 Kenny Bell                                                      LB. 91 Alex Watkins

TE. 89 Michael Williams                                           LB. 41 Courtney Upshaw

TE. 87 Chris Underwood                                              LB. 42 Adrian Hubbard

TE. 17 Brad Smelley                                                 LB. 30 Dont’a Hightower

TE. 82 Harrison Jones                                                 LB. 36 Chris Jordan

OT. 75 Barrett Jones                                                 LB. 35 Nico Johnson

OT. 71 Cyrus Kouandijo                                               LB. 32 C.J. Mosely

OT. 76 D.J. Fluker                                                     CB. 21 Dre Kirkpatrick

OT. 79 Austin Shepherd                                               CB. 9  Phelon Jones

OG. 61 Anthony Steen                                               CB. 24 DeQuanMenzie

OG. 67 John Michael Boswell                                       CB. 28 Dee Milliner 

OG. 65 Chance Warmack                                            S.   4 Mark Barron

OG. 75 Barrett Jones                                                     S.  29 Will Lowery

C.   73 William Vlachos                                               S.  37 Robert Lester

C.  63 Kellen Williams                                                   S.  20 Jerrick Williams

Kent State Golden Flashes Starting Lineup and Depth Chart

Kent State will be overpowered on Saturday but the Golden Flashes still have some players to watch.

Chris Anzevino was named to the Rimington Award watch list as one of the best centers in college football.

Roosevelt Nix was named to the Bednarik and Nagurski Award watch list as one of the best defensive players in college football.

Here is the projected starting lineups and depth chart for Kent State on Saturday (starters in bold).

OFFENSE                                                                              DEFENSE

QB. 3 Spencer Keith                                                            DE. 77 Lee Stalker

QB. 7 Cedrick McCloud                                                          DE. 47 Mark Falker

RB. 22 Jacquise Terry                                                          DE. 55 Rooselvelt Nix

RB. 28 Dri Archer                                                                   DE. 94 Andrew Christopher

FB. 43 Tim Erjavec                                                               NT. 93 Ishmaa’ily Kitchen

FB. 37 Lamar Washington                                                       NT. 52 Dana Brown

WR. 5 Tyshon Goode                                                            LB. 44 Byron Tyson

WR. 4 Eric Adeyemi                                                               LB.   4 C.J. Steward

WR. 18 Sam Kirkland                                                           LB. 57 Jake Dooley

WR. 23 Chris Gilbert                                                               LB. 41 Zack Hitchens

TE.  81 Justin Thompson                                                       LB. 30 Luke Batton

TE.  24 Jon Simpson                                                               LB. 58 Danny Gress

OT. 66 Brian Winters                                                             LB. 50 Kyle Reese

OT. 76 Robert Kearney                                                             LB. 27 Derek Jones

OT.  61 Josh Kline                                                                 CB. 36 Norman Wolfe

OT.  67 Terrell Johnson                                                            CB. 21 Sidney Saulter

OG.  70 Tyler Arend                                                               CB.  2 Josh Pleasant

OG.  77 Max Plunkett                                                               CB.   1 Darius Polk

OG.  65 Kent Cleveland                                                           S.   3 Leon Green

OG. 74 Tom Pizzurro                                                                 S.  25 Brian Hummer

C.    55 Chris Anzevino                                                            S.  39 Luke Wollet

C.    75 Phillip Huff                                                                     S.    7 Fabrice Pratt

Injury Report

While injuries have plagued many college football programs this summer, Alabama enters Saturday’s game with a healthy team. The Crimson Tide reported no injuries for this weekend’s game.

Alabama will be without two players who were not academically qualified for the game: WR Danny Woodson Jr. and WR Duron Carter.

Kent State also enters the game Saturday with a clean bill of health.

Hopefully both teams can come out of Saturday’s matchup just as healthy.

Matchup Breakdown

When: September 3, 2011 @ 12:20PM EST

Where: Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Bryant Denny Stadium

TV: SEC Network / ESPN 3

Breakdown:

Kent State will be overmatched in this game.

Darrell Hazell was brought over from Ohio State to be the Golden Flashes new Head Coach.

Hazell coached the wide receivers at Ohio State and has an accurate quarterback in Spencer Keith to work with.

Although Kent State may have a better season in 2011 than their 5-7 season in 2010, they will have a hard time putting up points against a stingy Crimson Tide defense.

The player to watch for Kent State is DT Rooselvelt Nix. He is a player who will soon be playing on Sundays.

Alabama comes into the game ranked second in both college football polls.

Alabama will use this game to try and figure out who will be their quarterback the following week at Penn State.

The Crimson Tide will have no problem replacing running back Mark Ingram.

The player to watch for Alabama is Trent Richardson. He should have a field day against the Kent State defense.

The question that needs to be answered about this game is how ugly does Coach Saban want to make the score? Alabama will dominate this game and Kent State will use the game to earn a nice paycheck for their program.