What Alabama football defenders said about facing MTSU’s offense

The opening of Alabama football’s 2023 season is finally almost here. The Crimson Tide starts the campaign Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium against Middle Tennessee State.

The players who spoke to media in the days leading up to the game universally expressed excitement for the first contest.

“We’ve been banging heads with each other for a month now in fall camp,” outside linebacker Chris Braswell said. “We’re all ready to go out there and bang against another opponent. It just feels great to walk out in Bryant-Denny, walk in there, 100,000 people cheering. You just get that rush, like ‘ah.’ I’m actually ready to practice today, like I can’t wait to do practice. We ready.”

Braswell and his defensive teammates will face a Blue Raider offense that loves to throw the ball. MTSU’s rushing attack struggled in 2022, but the passing game kept it in games on the way to an 8-5 record and a win in the Hawaii Bowl.

MTSU’s quarterback from last season, Chase Cunningham,…