Alabama
Predicting the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide Football Season: Auburn Tigers Preview, Game Picks, POLL
Last and least of the wild blind dart-throwing predictions of Alabama SEC opponents is the eternal soap opera in Lee County.
GAME 12, NOV 30: AUBURN TIGERS
Coach: Hugh Freeze (6-7, 3-5 SEC after one season at Auburn; 45-32 (58.4%) as a Power-5 coach, 89-49 overall in FBS, 138-0 in shoulda wons)
[SIDE NOTE: Bryan Harsin also went 6-7, 3-5 in his first season at AU.]
2023 record: 6-7 (3-5 in SEC, 5th in the West Division, lost the Music City Bowl)
Looking back: After three cupcake games to start the 2023 campaign, the Tigers dropped four straight to TAMU, UGA, LSU, and Ole Miss. This was followed by three wins in a row to the doormats of the league, MSU, Vandy, and Arky. Then, tragedy struck. The Auburn PlainsWarTigers were destroyed by New Mexico State at home, 31-10. Next was yet another chapter in the weird Iron Bowl series that ended in a Gravedigger W for the Tide. A sad listless loss to a Maryland playing without Lia Tagavailoa in the Music City Bowl ensured a losing season.
Returning starters: 5 on offense, 4 on defense, punter, kicker.
Key losses: OC and DC thrown under the bus after one season, RB coach Cadillac Williams resigned, CB Nehemiah Pritchett (Round 5, Seahawks), S Jaylin Simpson (Round 5, Colts), CB DJ James (Round 6, Seahawks), DT Justin Rogers (Round 7, Cowboys), DT Marcus Harris (Round 7, Texans), WR Ja’Varrius Johnson (xfer to UCF), WR Jay Fair (to So Cal), S Zion Puckett (grad), LB Larry Nixon (grad).
Top returnees: RB Jarquez Hunter (909 yds, 7 TD), leading tackler LB Eugene Asante, leading receiver TE Rivaldo Fairweather (394 yds – NOT A TYPO!), KR Keionte Scott, PK Alex McPherson, QB Payton Thorne.
Top newcomers: first time OC Derrick Nix, scandal-ridden DC DJ Durkin, WR Robert Lewis (877 yds, 7 TD, from Georgia State), WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (673-4, from Penn State), LT Percy Lewis (from Mississippi State), S Jerrin Thompson (from Texas), DT Isaiah Raikes (from TAMU), MLB Dorian Mausi (from Duke), DL Gage Keys (from Kansas), DL Trill Carter (from Texas), 5-star freshman WR Cam Coleman.
Strengths: Three of the top four running backs return led by preseason All-SEC Hunter (a fourth would’ve returned if not for getting shot in May)… Although many new faces, WRs should be better… Despite his checkered past, Durkin is an upgrade at DC… Punter and kicker are both back and are solid… Quite possibly the weakest non-conference schedule in all of FBS…
Weaknesses: Auburn fans are excited about their freshmen, several of whom who could start or highly contribute. Their enthusiasm s not unfounded, but depending on 18 year olds to lead your team can be difficult when playing in the SEC… Don’t believe the hype. Thorne is medicore to sucky… OL could be an issue as they rebuild… The secondary lost a TON of talent (See Key losses above)… The defense has some good individuals, but overall not great. There will be depth issues… Season tickets did not sell out until a few weeks ago. Is fan support wilting?…
Outlook: These days, everyone gets a pass for Year 1. Freeze has been full of a lot of big talk, but now it’s time to back it up. Another 6 or 7 win season might have the Auburn fans rolling their eyes with “here we go again”. Hunter should have a big season. The defense is a little shaky. The Tigers likely beat someone they shouldn’t – like they always do – and conversely lose to someone they shouldn’t – like they always do. Who those two opponents will be is anyone’s guess.
Win Total Odds
Over 7.5 +120 (bet $100 to win $120)
Under 7.5 -140 (bet $140 to win $100)
2024 AUBURN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE:
My Lawd! What a godawful shamelessly easy non-conference schedule. The 8th place team from the SWAC, a so-called “Power” team that is 0-1 in bowl games over the last four season, and quite possibly the two worst FBS teams in the nation for 2024. AU misses Texas, LSU and Tennessee, but still has trips to Alabama, Georgia, and Mizzou to go with hosting TAMU and Okie.
Aubie at home is always dangerous. Aubie on the road is a different animal. Alabama 48-24.
Sat, Aug 31 Alabama A&M – W
Sat, Sep 7 Cal – W
Sat, Sep 14 New Mexico – W – UNM just lost at home to Montana State.
Sat, Sep 21 Arkansas – W
Sat, Sep 28 Oklahoma – L – this one could get weird.
Sat, Oct 5 at Georgia – L
Sat, Oct 19 at Missouri – L
Sat, Oct 26 at Kentucky – W – This could be a toss up.
Sat, Nov 2 Vanderbilt – W
Sat, Nov 16 Louisiana-Monroe – W – projected 2.5 wins.
Sat, Nov 23 Texas A&M – L – this one could go the other way.
Sat, Nov 30 at Alabama – L
Poll
Regular season wins for Aubie in 2024:
ALABAMA SCHEDULE PREVIEWS:
Sat, Aug 31 vs Western Kentucky
Sat, Sep 7 vs South Florida
Sat, Sep 14 @ Wisconsin
Sat, Sep 28 vs Georgia
Sat, Oct 5 @ Vanderbilt
Sat, Oct 12 vs South Carolina
Sat, Oct 19 @ Tennessee
Sat, Oct 26 vs Missouri
Sat, Nov 9 @ LSU
Sat, Nov 16 vs Mercer
Sat, Nov 23 @ Oklahoma
Sat, Nov 30 vs Auburn
Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.
Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.
That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.
If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.
UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.
But it also smacked of desperation.
In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.
It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.
Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.
With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.
And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.
She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.
The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.
Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.
Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.
Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.
Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.
Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.
The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.
The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.
Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.
Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.
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