East Carolina Analysis and My Prediction

First game of the season is always a little tricky, especially with a brand new O-line and QB for us. East Carolina actually had a pretty good team last year, especially on defense. They were 25th in the nation there. They are only returning 3 starters from that D, and now have a new D-coordinator, so lots of unknowns for them. Jasiyah Robinson is probably their best returning defensive player and he was damn solid last year: 5 sacks, lots of hurries and a forced fumble. He's a pre-season all american conference player.

Offensively they are basically replacing everyone including the OC (who is now Ole Miss' OC). They were 20th in the nation averaging 450 yards per game last year. They only return 1 starter from that team, a WR. They have two QBs which could see playing time Mitch Griffis is the starter and transfer from Texas Tech/Wake Forrest. Not a lot of numbers on him from Texas Tech, but he did start 9 games at Wake and had modest production. The other QB is a Miami transfer, Emory Williams, who didn't play much last year, but is huge. They have some hogs on o-line mostly made up of transfers.

Hard to really know what to expect with so many new players and coordinators for ECU, but I would imagine all of that newness would be advantageous to Bama. Their pash rush may give us trouble, but their secondary is mostly a question mark and possible weakness. I'm predicting 42-17 Bama, Roll Tide!