Miami first test for new Tide receivers

Alabama hopes its search for help at wide receiver to complement John Metchie III pays immediate dividends.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide’s recent run of talent at the position could be enough to consider a Wideout U nickname for the program Nick Saban has coached to six national championships, including last season. Since winning yet another title game, Alabama has added four highly rated recruits and Ohio State transfer Jameson Williams.

The Tide won’t know how much of an impact the newcomers might make until they take the playing field, but there is extreme confidence in the group from sophomore quarterback Bryce Young. A new starter himself, Young is expected to rely heavily on some of those new receivers in Alabama’s opener against No. 14 Miami at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Atlanta.

ABC will televise the game, one of two ChickFil-A Kickoff matchups at Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the extended Labor Day weekend. Louisville and Ole Miss meet at 8 p.m. Monday in the other.

There’s plenty of potential for Alabama’s passing game, but only Metchie has really established himself as a consistent threat, and he did it last season with defenses devoting most of their attention to teammate DeVonta Smith, who became the first receiver in 30 years to win the Heisman Trophy.

“We’re all super excited about the young group of receivers,” Young said.

Over the past two NFL drafts, four Alabama receivers have been picked in the first round: Jaylen Waddle was No. 6 overall this year, with Smith going four picks later; in 2020, Henry Ruggs was taken 12th and Jerry Jeudy 15th. It will take time to see how the new group measures up, but Saban said developing consistency is a big part of the process.

“I think sometimes they’re not sure what they’re doing, so they’re not playing fast; sometimes they get impatient and cut things short,” Saban said. “But they also have shown that they have a lot of upside in terms of their ability to make a really positive contribution to the team, so it’s going to be a little bit of a work in progress.”

Clemson-Georgia: No room for error?

No team has lost its opener and played for the national title during the Bowl Championship Series or College Football Playoff era. That’s something to keep in mind as the third-ranked Clemson Tigers face the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in the biggest game of the first full weekend of the season.

They’ll meet in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, with ABC televising the game. The Tigers are 3 1/2-point favorites in the 60th meeting between the schools, though the first since 2008.

Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart has been stacking up top-three recruiting classes in recent years to keep up with Alabama, but Georgia hasn’t had Tide-level success on the field. With junior quarterback JT Daniels — a transfer from Southern California in 2020 who was undefeated as Georgia’s starter in the final four games last season — healthy and established behind center, is this the season for a breakthrough?

“When J.T. took over, obviously things were a lot of more fluid in both the running and the passing game,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “Attack you short, attack you deep, added a lot to an offense that they do really, really well.”

Clemson’s new starter at quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei, gave everyone a glimpse at his high ceiling in two starts last season filling in for Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL draft. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Uiagalelei completed 66.6% of his passes for 914 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.

Realistically, a season opener should not be a CFP elimination game. However, history suggests the loser is in a bind.

Zipping into a new era at Auburn

Bryan Harsin’s first game as head coach of the Auburn Tigers is against a team not far removed from a 21-game losing streak. The next opponent is from the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision.

So in theory, Harsin should be able to ease into his tenure as the coach of a Southeastern Conference program Saturday night against 36.5-point underdog Akron, with that followed by an even bigger mismatch versus Alabama State.

Harsin, who returned to the office Monday after a bout with COVID-19, took over a team led by third-year starting quarterback Bo Nix but coming off a 6-5 season that culminated with the firing of Gus Malzahn.

The first notable test is another nonconference game, Sept. 18 at No. 19 Penn State of the Big Ten, with that followed by a home game against Sun Belt program Georgia and then finally the SEC opener at LSU in early October.

But first, the Zips, who went 1-5 this past season, snapping a 21-game by beating Bowling Green before dropping the finale. That gave coach Tom Arth, who left the University of Tennesee at Chattanooga in December 2018 after two seasons in charge, his lone win in a 1-17 start to his Akron tenure.