Alabama football opens SEC play Saturday against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide will be looking to get back its usual level of play against the Rebels, after coming out flat the past two weeks in a loss to Texas and far-too-close win at South Florida.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. and air on CBS. Before that happens, here are three questions for Alabama.

How good will Jalen Milroe be?

Milroe is the guy now. The Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson experiments have concluded.

Saban didn’t even wait for the end of the week, naming his starter on Monday during the opening statement of his weekly press conference. During his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, he said Milroe doesn’t have anything to prove.

Now it’s time for the redshirt sophomore to perform. He’s been the best of the three quarterbacks in games so far, demonstrated excellent arm talent which has led to some long highlight-reel touchdowns.

He’s also mobile, making things happen with his legs and improvising well enough to keep drives moving. But there’s still areas he can improve.

Milroe’s two interceptions against Texas were both ugly. He can’t have that happening with any frequency if the Tide is going to recover this season.

He’s also struggled with accuracy on mid-length passes. If he can improve in those areas, he can be a solid signal-caller for UA, but with SEC play here, he’s running out of time.

Can the offensive line improve?

Before the 2023 season started, Alabama’s offensive linemen were bold when describing what they wanted to do as a unit. The Tide planned on bullying opposing defenses, grinding the ball down the field, and they had the heft to do it, as the SEC’s largest bunch of starters.

That hasn’t been the case so far. In the past two games, the Crimson Tide has given up five sacks each week. Even when the quarterbacks haven’t been sacked, they’ve still spent far too much time running for their lives.

Tyler Booker has been practicing this week after missing the USF game with back spasms. He can help provide a boost up front.

However, Booker can’t fix all of the Crimson Tide’s offensive line issues. Alabama needs players like Kadyn Proctor and Darrian Dalcourt to step up, or it could be another long week.

With Milroe getting settled in at quarterback, and likely more pressure on the Tide offense to answer a powerful Ole Miss attack this week, an improved effort on the offensive line will be needed.

Can Alabama stop Lane Kiffin’s offense?

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin revitalized the Alabama football dynasty when he was the offensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa from 2014-2016. He has made clear his appreciation for what Saban did to reinvigorate his career after he was fired by Southern Cal.

He’s also made it obvious how much he wants to beat his former boss. Kiffin has been playing public mind games all week, from theorizing that defensive coordinator Kevin Steele isn’t actually calling Alabama’s defense, to sharing social media posts of Taylor Swift’s “Castles Crumbling”.

For his part, Saban has praised Kiffin throughout the week. Especially when it came to Ole Miss’ offense.

“I think they’re outstanding,” Saban said. “Obviously they are fourth in the country in something, total offense and scoring 52 points a game and 526 yards. This is — and Lane is an offensive guy, did a great job when he was here, and he’s done a great job there. The players do a great job of executing it, which is always a good sign of a well-coached team. I think he’s done a fantastic job there.”

The Rebels will put Alabama’s secondary to the test. UA’s pass rush was solid against South Florida, and will need to be even better against Ole Miss, because Kiffin’s group can score.

Ole Miss put up 73 points in its first game, 37 against Tulane in Week 2 and 48 against Georgia Tech on Saturday. Alabama will have to do a better job stopping the Rebels, especially with questions on offense.

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