Alabama football faces off with Auburn in the Iron Bowl Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Besides the obvious motivation surrounding a matchup with its biggest rival, the Crimson Tide needs a win to remain a factor in the College Football Playoff race.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Auburn. The game will be aired on CBS.

Before the game, here are three questions for UA to answer.

Will something weird happen at Jordan-Hare Stadium?

Since the Iron Bowl moved from Birmingham’s Legion Field to the schools’ home stadiums, Jordan-Hare Stadium has been a difficult place to play for Alabama, even throughout the Nick Saban-led dynasty.

From the Kick Six to the 2021 four-overtime thriller, nothing has come easy for the Crimson Tide on the plains. Saban did push back against the perception on Monday.

“People talk about all the crazy stuff that happens in this game,” Saban said. “But since I’ve been here, the team that should have won the game won the game based on who played the best. So I think the focus needs to be on how are we going to play and how are we going to execute and do what we do and what kind of consistency are we going to be able to maintain in a difficult environment?”

On paper, this shouldn’t be a difficult game for Alabama against a team that lost to New Mexico State last week. But it’s the Iron Bowl, predictions are futile.

What will we see from the offensive line?

Alabama’s offensive line has been a major cause for concern throughout the 2023 season. Jalen Milroe has constantly been under duress and it’s made a huge impact on the offense.

Over the past three games, the situation has somewhat improved. Against Kentucky, the Crimson Tide didn’t allow a single sack, the first time that’s happened this season

“We’re playing better,” Saban said. “I think we’ve made steady improvement. I think the improvement has come from better communication and better technical execution from a technique standpoint, hand placement, foot placement, that kind of stuff, second step on the ground. I think all those things have helped. I think pass protection has improved but that’s something we need to continue to improve on.”

If UA can keep Milroe clean throughout the Iron Bowl, it would be a major boost to the offense. It would also ensure that he’s operating at full capacity entering the SEC championship game against Georgia.

Can Alabama make it four in a row?

The last time Alabama beat Auburn four consecutive times came when Paul “Bear” Bryant was head coach. Last year’s game marked just the second time under Saban’s leadership that the Crimson Tide have won three straight.

For players like senior safety Malachi Moore, it’s a chance to finish his Alabama career with a clean sweep against the Tigers.

“It would definitely be big just to go 4-0 against them,” Moore said. “It’s something that we take pride in here just because, we never want to lose a game first of all, but second of all it’s a rivalry and we’re just going to go out there and compete and do our best to have fun out there.”