Alabama vs. Louisville 2018: Time, TV/live stream info, and pick prediction

Alabama, once again, is the presumptive favorite to win the national championship. Louisville will have the chance to derail that narrative — but the Cardinals will have to do it while breaking in a brand new quarterback.

Louisville lost 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson to the NFL this spring, leaving the offense in the hands of Jawon Pass — a redshirt sophomore who looked solid in limited clean-up duty behind Jackson last fall. Pass’s first start may be the toughest of his career, as he’ll face a Crimson Tide defense that ranked first in the nation in scoring defense (11.9 points allowed per game) and total defense. While Bama may have lost eight players to the 2018 NFL Draft, Nick Saban’s pipeline of elite blue chip recruits just means a new class will get the chance to smash Pass into powder in Week 1.

While certainly green in terms of experience, the former Army All-American has impressed throughout the offseason leading up to this point. April’s annual Red-White scrimmage saw Puma throw for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and most recently, last Monday the 13th, the Cards held their first major scrimmage of the preseason, a competition that was closed to reporters (h/t Jake Lourim, Louisville Courier Journal). According to a release issued by the team, Pass ran for a pair of scores and connected with tight end Micky Crum for a short touchdown strike against the defensive starters.

Xavier McKinney

The rangey sophomore our of Georgia forced his way into playing time as true freshman, making an impact on special teams as well as being one of the first safeties off the bench in blowouts. Even as a true freshman, he had a physically imposing presence with long arms and a solid build that made him look matured beyond his years. A big hitter and strong tackler with the length and range to disrupt passing lanes makes him the perfect, prototypical candidate for a safety that excels in both run support and covering tight ends up the seams.

Alabama is home to this year’s preseason Heisman Trophy favorite — and it’s a player who’s never even started a game. Tagovailoa saved the Tide in last year’s National Championship Game to kick off a hype train currently screeching down the tracks and toward the rest of the SEC. His team’s string of 2017 blowouts gave him plenty of opportunities to spell Jalen Hurts in garbage time, and the then-freshman shined, throwing 11 touchdowns in just 77 attempts and, eventually, leading his team to a comeback victory in overtime on college football’s biggest stage.

Now Alabama will turn to him as its starter, knowing Hurts lurks in the background in case his breakout 2017 proves unsustainable. Tagovailoa made some freshman mistakes last fall, but another year of practice against the Tide’s never-ending supply of blue chip defenders should have rounded off some of his rough edges. Can he earn his status as Heisman favorite? We’ll see against Louisville.

This game would have been a burner with Jackson behind center for the Cards, but throwing a first-time starter behind center against Alabama’s meat grinder of a defense seems ...cruel. S&P+ sees this one as a 17.7-point win for the Tide.