Florida Atlantic @ Alabama preview
Bryant-Denny Stadium
As the coach for No. 1 Alabama, Nick Saban asks that his teams play to the school’s standard as opposed to the level of its competition. Through three games, it is hard to argue that the Crimson Tide aren’t doing exactly that after outscoring opponents 128-14 and recording consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1980. To illustrate just how dominant the defense has been, none of Alabama’s three opponents has run more than 10 plays on the Tide’s side of the field. On Saturday, Alabama will look to keep its season-long domination rolling against Florida Atlantic – a team averaging just 14.6 points under first-year coach Carl Pelini. The Owls lost at No. 6 Georgia 56-20 last weekend.
TV: 5 p.m. ET; ESPN3.com. LINE: Alabama -49.5
ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC (1-2): Despite the lopsided margin against the Bulldogs, the Owls won the turnover battle and managed to stay in the game for over a quarter as they knotted the game at 14 before Georgia reeled off 42 unanswered points. Sophomore RB Damian Fortner scored his first career touchdown and rushed for a career-high 81 yards. However, any success Florida Atlantic enjoys on the ground – offensively or defensively – against Alabama figures to be limited since the Tide are eighth in the country at stopping the run (57.7 yards per game) and the Owls are the seventh-worst at defending it (251.3).
ABOUT ALABAMA (3-0): The Tide have been every bit as dominant as their 38 point-per-game scoring margin indicates. En route to forcing 12 turnovers and committing just one, they own a plus-3.67 turnover margin – the best in the nation – and a 70-0 margin in points off turnovers. Furthermore, the Tide have scored 94 unanswered points since allowing a touchdown to Michigan in the third quarter of their season opener. Over its last 17 games against FBS competition, Alabama has more than four times as many rushing yards (3,351-761) and nearly 16 times as many rushing touchdowns (47-3).
EXTRA POINTS
1. Alabama has defeated 16 straight non-conference opponents and is 23-3 against such competition under Saban.
2. Florida Atlantic is 0-6 against the SEC since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2005, losing by an average of 29.8 points.
3..The Tide have not trailed in regulation after the first quarter in their last 17 games or faced a deficit during regulation since Oct. 22, 2011, against Tennessee.
PREDICTION: Alabama 59, Florida Atlantic 0