Five questions as the Alabama Crimson Tide prepares for Western Carolina

This is a week of firsts and lasts for No. 5 Alabama. Saturday's game against Western Carolina will mark the true beginning of the Mac Jones era and will also serve as the last time several Crimson Tide players suit up inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama (9-1, 6-1 in the SEC) has won all four previous meetings against Western Carolina (3-9) with its most recent matchup resulting in a 48-14 victory in 2014. The Crimson Tide will look to continue that trend Saturday for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff. Here are five questions to consider heading into the game.

Say what you will about Mac Jones, the young man has some guts. As questions arose about Alabama’s new starting quarterback this week, Jared Mayden was asked about Jones’ confidence behind center.

If there’s one thing the senior safety is sure about, the right-hander won’t be lacking charisma moving forward.

“There’s not too many people that go back and forth with Coach Saban,” Mayden said of Jones. “I remember the first time I saw him do that was his freshman year on scout team. He was throwing bombs, and Coach Saban said — I think he was throwing it to Tyrell Shavers — he was like, ‘Man, stop throwing it to him all the time.’ And (Mac) was like, ‘Well, tell your defense to stop it.’”

It will be interesting to see what Nick Saban’s approach to Jones’ deep ball is Saturday. Earlier this week, the head coach claimed that Alabama’s offense won’t change much with the redshirt sophomore behind center.

While Jones might not be as nimble as Tua Tagovailoa, his teammates claim he has a surprising amount of athleticism in the pocket.

"Mac can move good,” receiver DeVonta Smith said. “That's what people really don't see out of Mac because Mac is the type he's going to stay in the pocket but Mac can really move. Just nobody's seen it yet.”

When asked if Jones was underrated as a quarterback a slight smile came to Smith’s face.

"I feel like he is,” he said. “A lot of people overlook him because of who he was behind, but I feel the same way about Mac as I feel about Tua.”