Southern Miss @ Alabama preview

Alabama has a final tuneup before conference play when it hosts Southern Mississippi on Saturday night. The second-ranked Crimson Tide posted a 41-0 rout of Florida Atlantic in their home opener last Saturday, but the game did not provide concrete answers to the team's quarterback quandary, which is just fine with head coach Nick Saban. "I think at this point our focus needs to be on trying to help both of those guys to play better," Saban said Monday when discussing Blake Sims and Jacob Coker.

Sims and Coker split time last Saturday, combining to complete 27-of-36 passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns. Sims, a senior, appears to be the slight frontrunner but Saban wants Coker to get reps, a scenario that will continue to play out at least until the Southeastern Conference opener Sept. 20 against Florida at home. Southern Miss had a taste of SEC play with a 49-0 loss to Mississippi State on Aug. 30 before it bounced back to top Alcorn State 26-20 last Saturday.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2. LINE: Alabama -48

ABOUT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (1-1): The Golden Eagles' win last weekend was just their second in a span of 26 games, and they had to survive a rocky fourth quarter to get it. Nick Mullens was solid under center, completing 21-of-33 passes for 208 yards and two scores, while Southern Miss won the turnover battle 4-0. The Golden Eagles gave up 295 yards on the ground, which does not bode well against an Alabama team whose top six rushers all average at least 5.2 yards per carry.

ABOUT ALABAMA (2-0): Regardless of who is throwing him the ball, junior wide receiver Amari Cooper continues to climb the charts for the Crimson Tide. He tied the school record with 13 catches (for 189 yards) against Florida Atlanta, which left him four grabs shy of moving into fifth place alone on the career list and 16 yards short of third place all-time at Alabama. Cooper has four straight 100-yard performances, one shy of DJ Hall's school mark.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Cooper has 16 career touchdown catches, two shy of Dennis Homan's school record and one short of Hall on the all-time list.

2. Southern Miss was outgained 550-283 in its loss to Mississippi State.

3. Alabama owns a 33-6-2 series advantage, winning the last meeting in 2005 by a 30-21 margin.

PREDICTION: Alabama 59, Southern Miss 7