Alabama football releases Week 1 hype video to open Kalen DeBoer era

Alabama football is set to officially usher in the start of the Kalen DeBoer era in Week 1 of the 2024 college football season. And the Crimson Tide are taking on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in their first game. On Friday evening, the Tide released a hype video to get their fans amped up for the big game.

Standard. #RollTide pic.twitter.com/M8QpSkoUOF

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) August 31, 2024

Unsurprisingly, Alabama is expected to walk away huge winners per an early point spread released for the matchup by FanDuel. The Crimson Tide are currently 31.5 favorites.

Watch College Football Games Live -Try for Free Fubo! Click HERE NOW

How to watch Alabama vs. Western Kentucky

Time: 7 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium — Tuscaloosa, AL

Alabama was undefeated in season openers under Saban, going a perfect 17-0. To find the program’s last 0-1 record, you have to go back to 2001 when a ranked UCLA team came to Tuscaloosa.

Western Kentucky was a popular opponent throughout the Saban era, facing each other three times. All three were played in Tuscaloosa and decided in comfortable fashion. The Hilltoppers have scored just 17 points throughout the series, with a shutout occurring in 2012 — a year Alabama wound up winning the national championship.

Bryant-Denny Stadium is going to be rocking on Saturday night. Not just because DeBoer is walking into his first-ever game in the venue — but the nighttime kickoff will certainly help the atmosphere, making for a fun night ahead in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama hoping for success under Kalen DeBoer

DeBoer and his new regime have been the biggest storyline of the offseason in college football. Everyone has been wondering how Alabama will look without Saban. Western Kentucky is not the best opponent to provide results but after months of talking, it’s something on the field.

Carrying over the culture has been a huge aspect of DeBoer’s transition from Saban. After observing a scrimmage that occurred on Saturday, the man himself has not seen a difference.

“All I can tell you is I went and watched last week’s scrimmage on Saturday, and that team still has the same culture they had when I was the coach,” Saban said. “They play with toughness, they play with great effort, they execute well, they’ve got good discipline. So Kalen has done a really good job.”

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this article.