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The preparations for Alabama’s highly anticipated season opener against Florida State on Sept. 2 have already begun. Although, that’s to be expected for any of the Crimson Tide’s early season opponents.
“I don’t think that because of who we’re playing anything really changes in terms of how you get ready for a game,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban told reporters at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla., on Tuesday. “We do research before spring practice on our new opponents so that we can address some of the things that they do in spring practice.
“We do another scouting report research over the summer so that we can do some things in the fall. Especially for the first three opponents, we have sort of a semi game plan created before we ever hit fall camp."
While early preparations are nothing new for Saban and his staff, this year’s season opener should be the highest-rated matchup to start the season since the head coach arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007.
Alabama and Florida State are both projected to start the season ranked inside the top 5. The two teams will meet at 7 p.m. in what will be the first college game inside of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. If that’s not enough, ESPN’s College GameDay will be on hand to add suspense to the matchup.
“What a way to open the college football season, with the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium and two top ACC-SEC matchups,” said Gary Stokan, Peach Bowl, Inc. CEO and president. “This will possibly be the biggest opening weekend in the history of college football.”
That might be so, but don’t expect much to change for Saban in terms of how he gets his team ready. He maintains that Alabama will approach the matchup just as it has every season opener over the past 10 years.
“It doesn’t change relative to who we’re playing,” Saban said. “I can’t remember when the first game that we played was not important. So if it’s important, why wouldn’t we do a good job of getting our players ready to play that game?”
While not quite as big as this year’s game, Alabama has played in several notable season openers in recent years. Last year, the Tide entered the season ranked No. 1 opening the season with a 52-6 blowout of No. 20 Southern Cal inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Alabama also opened its 2015 season in AT&T Stadium, entering the season as the No. 3 team before beating No. 20 Wisconsin 35-17.
In fact, this year’s matchup will mark the sixth straight year Alabama has started its season with a neutral-site game. It will also mark the Tide’s fifth appearance in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, where Alabama holds a 4-0 record.
“We’ve always tried to play in one of the games early in the season,” Saban said. “I think it’s good for our team, it’s good for their development. Florida State has a good team and a great program and will probably be No. 1 in the country. So, it’s exciting for our players throughout the offseason, the spring and the summer to get ready for a game like that.”
Alabama is 10-0 in season openers under Saban has hasn’t dropped its first game of the season since a 20-17 loss to UCLA in 2001.
Alabama and Florida State have met four times dating back to 1965 with the most recent meeting coming in 2007, resulting in a 21-14 Seminole win. The Tide holds a 2-1-1 series advantage over the Seminoles.
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