It’s gameday in Tuscaloosa. Alabama football is set to take on Texas at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN. Before that, here’s five questions for the Crimson Tide to answer throughout the marquee matchup, which drew College Gameday and SEC Nation to UA’s campus.

Can Jalen Milroe keep it up?

Alabama’s quarterback played extremely well in the opener against Middle Tennessee State. He threw for three touchdowns, ran for two more and shared the SEC’s offensive player of the week award with Tennessee’s Joe Milton.

But Texas is a different animal. Even Nick Saban said it would be more difficult for Crimson Tide receivers to get open against a “different caliber” of defensive back.

This will be a ‘prove-it’ game for Milroe. He originally committed to Texas before flipping to Alabama, and hails from Katy, Tx., near Houston.

If he can keep it up, especially with his ball security and downfield accuracy from the MTSU game, Alabama is likely in good shape at quarterback.

How good is the secondary?

The Crimson Tide have to figure out how to cover Xavier Worthy. That’s no small feat.

Especially with a banged-up secondary. Malachi Moore will play, as of late Friday night. Jalen Key, who had Alabama’s lone interception last week will be a game time decision according to Nick Saban on his Thursday radio show appearance.

Keeping up with the Texas receivers falls more on the shoulders of cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold, both of whom are experienced and can be up for the task. It will also be an opportunity to further evaluate freshman Caleb Downs.

Downs earned the start in the first game of his Crimson Tide career against the Blue Raiders. He made good, leading the team in tackling.

With Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers looking at a group of deadly receivers, it will be crucial for the Alabama secondary to lock down, lest the Longhorns get out to a lead.

Can Alabama pressure Quinn Ewers?

Ewers is good. He was cooking the Crimson Tide last season in Austin before going down with an injury.

But according to former Alabama safety and current SEC Nation co-host Roman Harper, the key is to pressure him.

“Quinn Ewers is not the same quarterback when he’s off the spot,” Harper said on Friday. “Spot meaning three yards, right behind the center. That’s the sweet spot that they try to build a pocket around and that’s where their offense is won or lost. So understand those things and don’t let them do that. If you’re not friendly to Texas’ offense, you’ve got a real good chance to make this ugly for them.”

Alabama has the personnel to do it. Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell are as good an edge rusher duo as college football has and get help from Deontae Lawson and Quandarrius Robinson.

If they can rattle Ewers in a hostile environment, it could be a huge boost for the Tide.

Can the Crimson Tide protect Milroe?

What Milroe does once he has time is up to him. But whether the Crimson Tide can keep him clean in the pocket is another issue altogether.

The Alabama offensive line is still building chemistry and it showed at times against Middle Tennessee State. The interior especially had issues, including a few bad snaps from center Seth McLaughlin, though Milroe turned one of those into a touchdown run.

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That could be especially bad against Texas. The Longhorns have a solid core on the inside of their defensive line, especially defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat.

The running backs also missed blocks on both of the Blue Raider sacks last week. Jase McClellan said this week that he and his teammates are aiming to shore that up against the Longhorns by being more aggressive.

Milroe can do a lot with his legs. However, the less he has to run for his life, the better.

How much of a factor will the crowd be?

One of the external criticisms of Alabama’s fan base is Bryant-Denny Stadium isn’t always as difficult a place to play as it should be. The Crimson Tide’s fans have become accustomed to victory, and the atmosphere shows it.

But for the big ones, Tide fans still generally show out. And this game will be one of the big ones.

“Whenever these Alabama fans feel threatened, it just adds to the spice,” ESPN color analyst and College Gameday co-host Kirk Herbstreit said Friday. “It adds to the anticipation. And I think any time you can bring in a brand like Texas, especially the way the game went last year, there’s just a different feeling.”

Texas is the No. 11 team in the nation. Alabama would love for its crowd to help throw the Longhorns off their game.

Saban requested fans bring their best effort when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.

“I think atmosphere and environment in this game, fans – their energy and enthusiasm – really can have an impact on a game like this,” Saban said. “You impact the offense, their ability to check, their ability to communicate, sometimes get the snap count right. So I think the fans being in this game can create not only positive energy for our team, which we certainly appreciate and I know the players appreciate, but also make it more difficult for the other team to operate when they have the ball. So I think that energy and enthusiasm is really important, too.”

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