This Saturday afternoon, the Alabama Crimson Tide are set to play their final regular season home game against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
A FCS opponent, Eastern Illinois is a team that Alabama is not all that familiar with, as the two teams have not played head-to-head in football prior to Saturday.
Both teams are also having different season’s as well, as Alabama is 8-2 overall playing for CFP aspirations, while this is Eastern Illinois’ final game following a disappointing regular season in which the Panthers currently sit at 3-8 overall.
Following are Roll Tide Wire’s staff predictions for the Week 13 clash between Alabama and Eastern Illinois.
Matt Melton’s prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide 65, Eastern Illinois Panthers 3
Alabama already owns a 73-0 win on their resume from earlier this season against UL Monroe, and this result could easily end up looking similar to that victory. Expect the Crimson Tide to grab a sizable early lead, multiple younger players to see significant action, and for Alabama to roll to a massive bounce back win over Eastern Illinois entering the Iron Bowl next week.
Steve Holley’s prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide 63, Eastern Illinois Panthers 0
Alabama wins big. It’s the last (regular season) home game of the year at Bryant-Denny Stadium for these seniors, and Eastern Illinois has not gone over 20 points in each of its last six games, all losses.
As always, the most important thing for these “payout” games or whatever people want to call them is to avoid injuries. Get ahead, put this game out of reach early, rest the starters, and then go get ready for Auburn.
Rob King’s prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide 55, Eastern Illinois Panthers 18
55-18, Alabama. Ty Simpson has plenty of time and carves up Eastern Illinois. He comes out early because they are winning big. Horton has big day. Kevin Riley gets meaningful reps. Hill finds his chemistry with offensive line. Line shows up in run blocking and pass blocking. Lawson and Pierre have big days.
Jake Boico’s prediction: Alabama Crimson Tide 52, Eastern Illinois Panthers 3
I believe Alabama will have a strong bounce back performance against an underwhelming opponent following the loss to Oklahoma. Ty Simpson will thrive throughout the matchup, and the Alabama defense should face no problem applying constant pressure on the Eastern Illinois offensive line. Ultimately, Alabama will win the matchup in authoritative fashion by a score of 52-3.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama football vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers predictions for Week 13
