Jumbo Package: Alabama’s banged up lines will be tested on Saturday

Happy Thursday, everyone. We’ll open today with a little Alabama basketball, as you’ll get your first televised taste of the 2026-27 squad tonight on SEC Network.

The Crimson Tide will face the Rebels at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. Alabama‘s appearance in the Ballin’ in Boutwell Exhibition marks the Crimson Tide’s third time at the showcase.

Wake Forest fell to the Crimson Tide in the inaugural competition in 2024 and Alabama stayed in the win column the following year with a 109-105 victory over Florida State.

It’s just an exhibition game, and Alabama is missing a few guys. Aden Holloway is still serving his suspension, Anderson Diaz is out with an elbow issue, and Jaxon Richardson has been dealing with some undisclosed stuff. All should be available very early in the regular season.

Of course, there is a big rivalry football game on Saturday that Alabama simply cannot afford to lose. The injury report isn’t pretty.

The Alabama wide receiver is considered “week-to-week,” per Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer, with head and knee injuries. Coleman-Williams is listed as out on Alabama‘s first SEC availability report Wednesday, Oct. 14, along with defensive linemen Jeremiah Beaman and Terrance Green, linebackers Cayden Jones and Desmond Umeozulu and defensive back Nick Sherman.

Offensive lineman Racin Delgatty (lower leg) is questionable. Linebacker Justin Hill (lower body) is probable.

DeBoer said Delgatty is limited in practice and is “pretty sore, kind of, working through things.”

We’re going to need someone to man up at nose, starting with London Simmons. In his last home game, Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop went for 220 yards on 34 carries against Auburn. He is as explosive as any back in the nation, and we all saw what Georgia was able to do in the second half with Green on the shelf.

At the center position, it’s either a banged up Racin Delgatty or Mal Waldrep in his first ever start in the middle. I’ll let Landon Tengwall show you what those guys will be dealing with.

Alabama is going to have to do some of its passing on early downs and find ways to run on the edges in order to minimize Gilliam’s disruption. The Penn State transfer’s tape is reminiscent of Quinnen Williams’ breakout season that got him picked 3rd overall.

As Katie Windham notes, we will learn something about this squad’s resilience as they go on the road to face that environment after a loss.

“Don’t let Georgia beat you twice,” has been a common refrain around the Alabama football facility this week. The Crimson Tide isn’t trying to look ahead to a potential rematch with the Bulldogs (though that’s certainly possible), but instead Alabama doesn’t want the same mistakes to lead to another loss this Saturday at Tennessee.

With the format of the College Football Playoff including 12 teams, Alabama still has all its preseason goals ahead of it. The Tide is still in a great spot for a CFP berth and a shot at the SEC title game, but those positions become a lot less stable with a loss to Tennessee.

Mike Organ of The Tennessean wrote about the “Third Saturday in October” tradition.

The first game in the historic series was actually not even played in October. It was played Nov. 28, 1901. It seems fitting that the two teams posted a 6-6 tie. By 1939, the game had moved to its traditional October date, and sports writers tabbed it, “The Third Saturday in October.”

The annual date became less consistent in the 1990s when the SEC expanded and split into two divisions. The matchup has been played on the third Saturday in October for the last four seasons and played again in 2026 on Oct. 17 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.

Nick Kelly notes that Josh Ford is following in Bear Bryant’s footsteps by playing through a broken bone.

In 2026, Ford broke his arm. In 1935, Bryant broke his leg. Ford, a tight end, played the next game against Georgia. Bryant, an end, played the next game against Tennessee.

The mentality required to pull it off wasn’t all that different, though.

“The fact that Bear Bryant played with a fibula fracture kind of further indicates his toughness and resiliency and mentality and kind of everything he is legendary for,” Dr. Lyle Cain, orthopedic surgeon at Andrews Sports Medicine, told AL.com. “Even when he was playing in college, that was probably a good indicator of the kind of person he was going to be.”

Colin Gay tells us about a current engineering student and artist who has created some buzz with his vintage comic book covers for each football game this season.

Heading into the 2026 season, Boyden had an idea: to capture the rivalry essence of Alabama football weekly with vintage-style comic book covers.

For Mississippi State, Boyden pitted a ferocious “Big Al” elephant head-to-head against a Bulldog with a cowbell on its collar.

For Georgia, it was a “battle of the heavyweights” putting a boxing ring at the center of Bryant-Denny Stadium with “Big Al” and “Uga” with fists up, ready for the bell to ring.

And for Tennessee, Boyden drew “Big Al” against “Smokey,” with a Volunteer hunter trying to hold his bluetick coonhound back in the thick of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Last, Brian Baldinger caught some Bama on Bama crime in the NFL this past Sunday.

The Terminator is as terrifying as ever.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.