What: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide
When: Saturday, August 30 at 3:30PM ET
Where: Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia
TV Schedule: ABC/ ESPN2
Live Stream: ESPN
Where They Stand:
West Virginia Mountaineers (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (-26.5) (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Alabama coach Nick Saban named Blake Sims the Crimson Tides starting quarterback for the 2014 opener against West Virginia, but will Sims live up to the standards that A.J. McCarron left behind?
Saban compared the quarterback situation to baseball in the sense that just because Sims is the starter, doesn't mean he will play the entire game on Saturday.
"I mean, Joe Girardi tells (Masahiro) Tanaka he's starting in the game, he's not telling him he's going to pitch nine innings," Saban said. "Does he tell them that or does he just pitch until he doesn't pitch well anymore?”
Sims has a solid cast of characters to goose his performance in tailbacks T.J. Yeldon, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake and receivers Amari Cooper and Christion Jones. Freshman Cam Robinson will also get the start at left tackle and protect Sims blindside.
West Virginia is coming off a disappointing 4-8 season and it was the programs first losing season since they went 3-8 in 2001. The Mountaineers will look to improve on a defense that finished ninth out of 10 in the Big 12 and surrendered 455.0 yards per game.
Alabama will be without starting linebacker Trey DePriest due to a small NCAA infraction. DePriest is a preseason first-team All-SEC selection.
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