Roll Tide Nation

Looking ahead to his program’s first game of the 2018 college football season against Louisville, Alabama head coach Nick Saban offered high praise for Cardinals quarterback Jawon Pass.

He compared Pass to former Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, who’s now the franchise quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.

“I think he’s an outstanding, talented player,” Saban said, per AL.com. “Very, very good in high school. Has got great size. Very good arm talent. Very good athlete. He’s kind of a Cam Newton-looking type of guy out there and, when he had the opportunity to play last year, I thought he played very well and showed a lot of poise. They’ve got a very experienced offensive team, so I’m sure that that experience is going to help him and his confidence playing in that first game.”

That’s some heady stuff there, as it’s not like we see comparisons to Newton very often.

Lane Kiffin loves to troll Nick Saban and take jabs at his former boss, but this time he decided to come to the Alabama coach’s defense.

A CBS Sports poll asked coaches to identify the most overrated and underrated coaches. One coach called Saban overrated and even said that he cheats.

“If you had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country every year [you’d win like Nick Saban]. He shows up at every single game with a better roster than the teams he ‘s playing. … If you count cheating and getting the best players in the country as part of running a program, he’s the best in the country. It’s like saying an NFL coach is the best coach in the league if he gets 25 first-round picks every year,” one coach said about Saban, according to the poll.

Kiffin was asked about that allegation during an interview with Colin Cowherd and tore it apart. Instead, he attributed Saban’s success in recruiting to his work ethic.

College football is back. Like Herm Edwards back. Like Chip Kelly back. And while this first week’s slate of games is short, just four tantalizing morsels of collegiate gridiron goodness, it still marks the beginning of all that is good in the world. People like to call it “Week Zero” and say it doesn’t really count, but it does, especially to the eight teams kicking off. Just ask newly minted Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren.

Here’s everything you need to know heading into the first weekend of college football.

Duquesne at UMass – If you like offense, then this is the game for you. The Duquesne Dukes, coached by Jerry Schmitt, boast a balanced offense despite breaking in a relatively new quarterback. Like most coaches, Schmitt is being coy about naming a starter but has narrowed it down to junior Brett Brumbaugh and redshirt junior FAU transfer Daniel Parr. Running back A.J. Hines will take some of the pressure off the new QB — Hines topped 1,000 yards last season and had 10 touchdowns despite playing in just nine games. Unfortunately for the Minutemen, UMass doesn’t have a particularly strong run defense — it allowed 197.9 yards per game last season. The secondary will carry the defense, but the offense will carry the team. It is led by underrated QB Andrew Ford, who has more than 5,500 passing yards and 48 touchdowns in the last two season. But the Dukes have experience on the road and a solid offense that will test UMass’ defense up front.

Prairie View A&M at Rice – This game has “feel-good” written all over it for the Rice Owls. The program has been shrouded in optimism this offseason with the hire of former Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren. But the reality of a rebuild is that it takes time. But if anyone knows how to utilize wide receiver Aaron Cephus and his monster yardage, it’s Bloomgren. Prairie View A&M will test Rice’s offense with a defense that boasts both size and speed and gained depth this offseason thanks to the transfer well, expertly utilized by new head coach Eric Dooley. Offensively, the Panthers lost their leading rusher and top three receivers, meaning new gamers will need to emerge. Prairie View may have the juice, coming off three straight wins to end last season, but Rice is just more physical and athletic. Look for the Owls to dominate despite the inevitable growing pains.

Nick Saban offered up an unintentionally hilarious quote his team’s unfortunate injury issues.

Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide lost another player to injury. The Bama coach announced on Saturday that linebacker Chris Allen is out for the season. Allen was expected to be a top backup. The Tide also lost linebacker Terrell Lewis over the summer to a torn ACL. On top of that, right tackle Matt Womack is likely to miss 4-6 weeks with a foot injury.

Though everyone expects Alabama to still be No. 1 despite the injuries, Saban says the injuries add up and it’s not so easy to replace players. Only he said it in a funny and colorful way.

“You all just think that every time something happens, we just s— another player…” Saban said.

The Alabama football program under Nick Saban has a seemingly unstoppable flow of NFL-caliber players coming through on a yearly basis. Yet injuries take their toll on the Crimson Tide, just like any other program.

On Saturday, Saban announced that yet another top-tier player, linebacker Chris Allen, was going to miss the season.