Alabama vs Duke 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds & Game Preview

The last time we saw the Alabama Crimson Tide on the football field, they were taking a 44-16 shellacking from Clemson in the national championship. You can imagine that Alabama will have plenty of frustration to work out when they take the field in Atlanta for Saturday’s season opener against Duke. The two teams last met in 2010, with the Tide rolling to a 62-13 rout. Alabama has not lost a season opener since 2001, when they fell to UCLA. Duke did beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl — back in 1945. So while Duke comes in with a little bit of quality, the real story here is how Alabama will show that they are ready to start another march to the College Football Playoff. We have your college football betting preview for this Week 1 tilt just ahead.

Alabama vs Duke 2019 College Football Week 1 Odds & Game Preview

What’s Next? 🔊 On #RollTide pic.twitter.com/JO1VnHptTI

— Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) August 28, 2019

When: Saturday, August 31, 2019, 3:30pm ET Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta TV: ABC Radio: Alabama Crimson Tide Sports Network / Blue Devil IMG Sports Network Live Stream: ESPN+ College Football Week 1 Odds: Alabama -35 / O/U 58.5

Why should you bet on Alabama?

Even without Moses, the defense is plenty deep with plenty of excellent players. The offense for Alabama has skill players on offense that are ready for the National Football League today, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. They stuck around, in many cases, to get the chance to atone for that embarrassing loss in the national championship. The Duke offense has had to replace seven starters, and their unit last year scored no more than 21 points in six of their games in 2018. Even if you consider the suspensions that Alabama faces in the first half (see below), they still have tailback Brian Robinson and wideouts Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and Henry Ruggs III available to run routes for Tagovailoa. Waddle and Ruggs each put up at least 45 catches for at least 740 receiving yards and scored at least seven touchdowns in 2018. If you like the Crimson Tide, you see them hitting the ground running to get momentum in a big way and not look back — with things to get worse once the starters return from their suspensions at the start of the third quarter. Alabama scored 45.6 points per game last year and picked up 522 yards of offense per game.

Why should you put your money on Duke?

Remember — this article isn’t about a straight up win. It’s about whether Duke can stay within 35 points of Alabama. The Crimson Tide won’t have four of their offensive stars for half the game, as tailbacks Najee Harris and Brian Robinson, wide receiver DeVonta Smith and Terrell Lewis will all be serving suspensions until the intermission. Linebacker Dylan Moses, whom some consider the best at his position in college football, has already gone on the shelf for the season with a blown ACL. So there are a lot of questions to answer for Alabama, particularly in terms of running out to such a considerable rout. On defense, Duke has a solid secondary anchored by safety Dylan Singleton and cornerback Mark Gilbert, making a unit that can take the ball away. The defensive line returns all four starters. None of them were All-ACC, but their combined skill and experience should help them find their way into the Duke backfield. Duke will have to manage ball security better than they have in the past, and they can’t make many mistakes. They were third in the nation in fewest penalties committed, though, so they have the track record to play a solid game.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Alabama scored at least 35 points in 12 of their 14 games ahead of the national championship last year. While they have not covered in any of their last four non-conference games and have not covered in four of their last five overall, there are some factors here that make this game seem different. Alabama will be spoiling to make a statement in this game, and Duke is the unlucky opponent on their schedule. I predict a final score of Alabama 48, Duke 9.