It is true that Auburn is recovering from the incident of its poisoned sentimental trees, but those in the Tuscaloosa region are trying to bounce back from a much more real catastrophe. <\/p>\n
Kent St. Golden Flashes at Alabama Crimson Tide Indeed, after the devastating and lethal tornadoes that touched down in that part of the state during the spring, all of Dixieland is eager for its beloved sport to resume; it will only help speed the healing from a tough and tragic offseason.<\/p>\n The good news for the frenzied Tide supporters is that this weekend\u2019s game should be a cakewalk. Especially after the status of some key LSU Tigers players has been jeopardized, \u2019Bama is clearly one of the nation\u2019s best football programs. <\/p>\n Its Week One opponent, the Kent State Golden Flashes, most decidedly is not.<\/p>\n However, Kent State did rank tenth nationally in total defense a season ago, which might give the Flashes some glimmer of hope that they could create pressure in the backfield \u2013 particularly with the services of Roosevelt Nix, a stud sophomore who had 10 sacks and 20 TFLs in 2010. Nix has battled some injuries in August, but he should be ready to go for game time.<\/p>\n Kent State\u2019s front seven is in good shape, but the secondary has some concerns with inexperience, especially at the safety positions. The Flashes have a new head coach in Darrell Hazell who is used to coaching the passing game (former WR coach at Ohio State) so expect production out of QB Spencer Keith and wideouts Tyshon Goode, Sam Kirkland and Kentucky transfer Eric Adeyemi.<\/p>\n For the Tide, it is going to be business as usual. Alabama has the best defense in the country, with surefire NFL studs like S Mark Barron, LB Dont\u2019a Hightower and CB Dre Kirkpatrick. They have an elite running back in junior Trent Richardson, who should get plenty of carries and smash through Kent\u2019s MAC defense. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Alabama has a strong offensive line and a couple reliable targets in their own right in seniors Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks (though Hanks will miss the opening two games of the regular season due to eligibility issues). This opening game should be a nice tune-up for new starting pivot A.J. McCarron.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt the Flashes have a strong defense \u2013 for the MAC conference. Playing the likes of Bowling Green and Central Michigan is a far cry from the best SEC outfits \u2013 and by extension one the best teams in general. <\/p>\n Nix is dynamic, but the beefy Tide O-line will double-team him and the \u2019Bama offense should beat Kent State with either Richardson or its wide receivers. Coach Hazell will develop a strong passing game for the Flashes, but QB Keith must be quaking in his boots at the prospect of throwing into the soup of Kirkpatrick, Barron and CB Dee Milliner.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this is a preparatory game for Alabama and a fairly easy way to start the season 1-0. <\/p>\n For Kent State, the optimist must see that it\u2019s a good test against one of America\u2019s best and an opportunity to see how Hazell\u2019s men respond \u2013 both to his new styles of motivating and to the challenge of playing in one of college football\u2019s cherished locations against one of its best squads.<\/p>\n Moral of the story? Don\u2019t look for a nail-biter in this one.<\/p>\n Over is 10-3 in KENST last 13 games in September. Score Prediction: Alabama 52, Kent St. 10<\/strong> The CappersPicks.com college football weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly college football picks<\/a>, tips, betting advice, strategies, CFB gambling articles and more to help you become the best College football bettor on your block!!<\/p>\n The Kent State Golden Flashes vs. Alabama Crimson Tide will both be trying to pick up a win in Week 1 on Saturday when they battle at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Odds have the Tide listed as 38\u00bd-point favorites the game\u2019s total is set at 47\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":23896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[28750,2857,1685,2358,470,51877,548,35509,51878,51879,763,51693,1323,33323],"class_list":["post-42740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-28750","tag-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-college-football-spreads","tag-football-odds","tag-free-pick","tag-golden-flashes-vs-crimson-tide","tag-handicappers-predictions","tag-kent-st-golden-flashes","tag-kent-st-golden-flashes-vs-alabama-crimson-tide","tag-kent-st-vs-alabama-free-pick","tag-ncaa-football-betting","tag-vegas-gambling-picks","tag-week-1","tag-week-1-free-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42740"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42747,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42740\/revisions\/42747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa AL
\nSaturday, Sept. 3, 12:20 EST
\nNCAA Odds from Bookmaker Sportsbook<\/strong><\/a>:
\nMoneyLine: OFF
\nSpread: Kent St. +38.5\/Alabama -38.5
\nOver\/Under: 47<\/strong>
\nGrab The In Depth ATS Matchup Report – Click Here!<\/a><\/p>\nTrends:<\/h3>\n
\nKENST are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
\nKENST are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games on grass.
\nOver is 7-1-1 in ALAB last 9 non-conference games.
\nALAB are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 home games.
\nUnder is 5-2-1 in ALAB last 8 home games.<\/p>\n
\nOver\/Under Prediction: 61.5<\/strong><\/p>\nClick here to CHECK OUT OUR CFB HANDICAPPERS PICKS for the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"