Despite opinions to the contrary, Nick Saban says he doesn’t know it all when it comes to his Alabama football team. At least not yet.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young (9) practices this week as the Tide prepares for its season opener against Miami in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Kent Gidley/Alabama Athletics)

“I don’t have the answers to these questions,” he said regarding the No. 1 Crimson Tide’s season opener at 2:30 p.m. Central Saturday against No. 14 Miami in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on ABC. “You can’t figure all this stuff out in practice. I don’t know how the offensive line is going to do. I don’t know how the run defense is gonna do. I don’t know how a new player playing wide receiver or cornerback is going to do.

“But this is their opportunity and their challenge to show what they can do,” Saban said. “I want them to do that in a very positive way, where they’re focused on their action, one play at a time and how they respond to the next play, regardless of what happened the play before. That’s kind of how we’re going to approach this game, and that’s how we got to go about it against a very good team.”

While Saban will learn about his team on Saturday, he already knows his squad will face a challenge in handling Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King.

“This guy presents lots of issues,” the coach said, “because he’s a great player and he’s a great athlete and he’s a great quarterback all rolled in one.”

UAB and Jacksonville State got Week 1 of the college football season in the state going in the 2021 Montgomery Kickoff at Cramton Bowl. The Blazers got the better of the midweek meeting, winning 31-0 with Tyler Johnston III completing 17 of 21 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns.

The Blazers outgained the Gamecocks 518-155, marking UAB’s first 500-yard game since Week 3 of last season and its first shutout since 2018 (when the Blazers had three that season). Bill Clark is now 6-0 in season openers as UAB’s head coach.

Saturday brings Game 1 of the Bryan Harsin era at Auburn as the Tigers host Akron at 6 p.m. on Pat Dye Field in Jordan-Hare Stadium on ESPN+. The former Boise State coach wouldn’t say what he hopes he has seen when the opener is done.

“I think No. 1 is that we had a successful game, we won the game,” he said. “But really, right now, our focus is, ‘How do we prepare ourselves to have a good week of practice?’ I don’t want to put any predictions on the game only because I have no idea what we’re capable of doing this week just as far as our focus goes.

“It could be our best week of practice,” Harsin said. “I hope that’s the case. I hope that our performance throughout the week in preparation shows up in the game and that we played good football.”

First-year Auburn coach Bryan Harsin talks to his team after practice as the Tigers prepare to host Akron for their season opener. (Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics)

Thursday night, Samford welcomes Tennessee Tech to Seibert Stadium at 6 p.m. to resume a series that stands at 3-3. Most recently, the Golden Eagles beat the Bulldogs 59-58 in double overtime in 2019 in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Samford ended the spring season with a pair of big victories over The Citadel and Mercer. Coach Chris Hatcher said his team took that momentum into the summer and hopes to sustain it against Tech.

“The hardest thing about starting a season is finding out who you are, because no two teams are exactly the same,” Hatcher said. “Hopefully, we’ve done a good job as a staff finding that out so when we go into Game 1, we already have an idea of what we’ll be good at.”

In other action:

Southeastern Louisiana at North Alabama: This game will be played in a Lions’ den, just not the den where it was originally scheduled. The North Alabama Lions’ season-opening football game against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions will now be played at 6 p.m. Saturday at Braly Stadium in Florence. The change is due to the effects of Hurricane Ida on the SELU campus and the Hammond, Louisiana, community. Beyond UNA season tickets, remaining tickets will be $10 and can be purchased at the UNA ticket office or online at roarlions.com/tickets. A portion of the game’s proceeds will go to support Southeastern Louisiana University. UNA will now have six home games with the addition of the contest with SELU, which is ranked 17th nationally in the preseason AFCA Football Championship Subdivision poll. The visiting Lions are led by last season’s Walter Payton Award winner as the FCS Player of the Year, quarterback Cole Kelley.

The Tuskegee Golden Tigers will face off against Fort Valley State in the inaugural Red Tails Classic at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. (Tuskegee Athletics)

Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Huntingdon College: The Huntingdon Hawks are coming off a successful spring season in which they won the USA South Athletic Conference championship. They hope to fly high again this season, beginning at noon Saturday.

Southern at Troy: The Southern University Jaguars were 5-1 in the spring, including a 49-7 win over Grambling State in the Bayou Classic. The Trojans were 5-6 in the fall, including a hotly contested 42-38 loss to Coastal Carolina. The season opener at Veterans Memorial Stadium is at 6 p.m. Saturday.

LaGrange College at Birmingham-Southern: The BSC Panthers came in at No. 25 in the College Football Network’s preseason poll. They’ll try to improve on that at 6 p.m. Saturday in General Krulak Stadium.

Morehouse at West Alabama: Coach Brett Gilliland said he sees no glaring weaknesses in his West Alabama squad. If that’s the case, it could be a long day for the Maroon Tigers, who haven’t played since 2019. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Saturday.

South Carolina State at Alabama A&M: Lopsided games have been the order of the day when these sets of Bulldogs have met. South Carolina State won 32-0 in 2013 and A&M won 31-7 this spring. The rivalry resumes at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Southern Mississippi at South Alabama: The USM Golden Eagles are coming off a 3-7 campaign in 2020. The Jaguars were a shade better at 4-7, which prompted Kane Wommack’s return to Mobile from having been an assistant at Indiana. The Wommack era begins at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Miles College at Alabama State: The Division II Golden Bears were champions of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference when last they played in 2019. At 5 p.m. Saturday, they’ll face the FCS Hornets, who are 2-0 all-time against them – 26-7 in 2015 and 53-20 in 2016.

Tuskegee vs. Fort Valley State (Red Tails Classic): The Golden Tigers football squad will pay tribute to the Black World War II Army Air Forces servicemen when they take on Fort Valley State in this classic at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Sunday and the game will be nationally broadcast on ESPNU.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Class 7A: The Great American Rivalry Series season continues Friday in Hoover as the Vestavia Hills Rebels (0-2) face the Hoover Buccaneers (2-0), who are ranked No. 2 in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association poll. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the Hoover Met. The Great American Rivalry Series, now in its 18th year, shines the spotlight on top high school football rivalries across the nation. Since 2004, the series has covered more than 930 elite high school football rivalry games across 44 states, highlighting exceptional athletes and decades of competition. Hoover leads the series with Vestavia Hills 36-20. The game will not be broadcast on television.

The past two matchups between Vestavia Hills and Hoover have come down to the final minutes.

Will that happen again this year?

Presented by: @USMarineCorps pic.twitter.com/uLb5RUUwxS

— Great American Rivalry Series (@AmericanRivalry) August 31, 2021

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Class 6A: No. 9 Homewood visits McAdory. Each is 1-0.

Class 5A: Cordova (2-0) hosts No. 2 Pleasant Grove as the Spartans play their season opener.

Class 4A: No. 4 Jacksonville (1-0) travels to Anniston (2-0).

Class 3A:  Hale County lost 30-24 to Sipsey Valley in its opener last week. This week, the Wildcats travel to No. 4 Montgomery Academy (1-1).

Class 2A: G.W. Long began its season with back-to-back open weeks. Perhaps the team has had enough preparation as it heads to No. 8 Elba (2-0).

Class 1A: No. 3 Pickens County (1-0) visits Hubbertville (1-0).

AISA: Edgewood Academy (2-0) travels to Banks Academy (2-0).