Former LSU Quarterback will face Alabama for fourth time on third team

The entire country will be in action this week after we got a taste of College Football last weekend with four FBS games. Every game isn't as high stakes as LSU vs USC, Georgia Vs Clemson, and Notre Dame Vs Texas A&M for example as several teams across the country will face far inferior teams.

One of those teams is the Alabama Football team who opens their season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. In 2023, the Hilltoppers went 8-5 finishing fourth in Conference USA with a 5-3 conference record. Starting quarterback Austin Reed is off to the NFL after an impressive season meaning the Hilltoppers needed a new starting quarterback.

Leading the Hilltoppers into battle with the Tide at quarterback is former LSU Football player TJ Finley. The Tigers signed TJ Finley in the 2020 recruiting class where he was ranked as the 32nd best quarterback in the class and the 432nd best player in the country. Finley started five games as a true freshman going 2-3 completing 57.1% of his passes for 941 yards and five touchdowns with five interceptions.

In that season, TJ Finley faced Alabama for the first time completing 14 of his 28 attempts for a touchdown while the Tigers lost 55-17. After the season, Finley would transfer to Auburn ending his time at LSU.

At Auburn, Finley faced Alabama twice with two losses, losing once as the starting quarterback in 2021. The 2021 Iron Bowl was Finley's best chance to win as the Tide won in the fourth overtime. In that game, Finley completed 17 of 26 passing attempts for 137 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

In 2023, Finley played for the Texas State Bobcats where he faced off against Alabama's defensive coordinator Kane Wommack who was South Alabama's head coach at the time.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers officially named TJ Finley their starting quarterback for their season opener on Monday.

It'll be easy to root for TJ Finley this weekend

Even when TJ Finley left LSU, it was easy to root for him as long as he wasn't playing against the LSU Tigers. This weekend it'll be very easy to Finley as he looks to go into Bryant-Denny Stadium and shock the Crimson Tide in the first game post Nick Saban. The Hilltoppers will be undermanned in this matchup but, losses to ranked teams gives LSU a greater chance at making the playoffs. Finley will take the filed with another former Tiger Koy Moore who transferred into Western Kentucky this spring.

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