Dear lord sweet baby Jesus, it is finally here.

After months and months of darkness, there is finally light.

College football season is finally underway in Tuscaloosa, as the 2-a-day workouts and interminable parsing of post-practice Nick Saban grunts give way to the glory that is the “administrative groupings” chart (though we aren’t sure if we like “/” better than “or” …) and griping about a half-empty Bryant-Denny Stadium student section (well, next week, anyway.

No. 2 Alabama takes on the only other school that reveres Wallace Wade like they do on University Blvd., as Duke meets the Tide in Atlanta. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, it won’t be Nate Oats and the Tide hoops team on the other sideline.

Nope. You get Saban — the living legend of the gridiron like Mike Krzyzewski is the king of the hardwood. You get a Crimson Tide still salty over the CFP title game beatdown from Clemson. You get Tua Tagovailoa with 2 healthy ankles.

We would say that Duke has a chance, but then we realize that even with now-Giants QB Daniel Jones and an all-time all-star team on the roster and Steve Spurrier back on their sideline, the Blue Devils likely wouldn’t be able to hang the first season-opening loss on a Saban-coached Tide team (or break the 18-game winning streak). Duke won’t win in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon. That said, what do we need to see from the Tide to consider Week 1 a success?

1. Mac Jones starts the 2nd-half at QB

The universal arbiter of a college football blowout is when the backup quarterback sheds the clipboard and visor to run 34 consecutive dive plays. This season, that means Tua Tagovailoa’s stunt double — Mac Jones. One reason one could argue that Alabama’s sweet Hawaiian prince was jobbed out of the Heisman Trophy last season was that he was on the sideline watching Jalen Hurts in the 2nd half with a grin on his face. Mac Jones is no Jalen Hurts … and that’s OK. He doesn’t have to be right now. But getting Jones ready if/when the sweet Hawaiian prince gets injured is a priority for Alabama.

2. Jerry Jeudy runs wild on the Duke secondary

Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver Jerry Jeudy has almost as much preseason hype attached to him as Tagovailoa — and maybe more than any receiver not named Julio Jones in recent Alabama history. There’s a good reason for that, as the 6-1, 192-pound Jeudy is in a different stratosphere from the rest of what is a ridiculously talented Alabama receiving corps. Jeudy is explosive, runs great routes and is constantly making big plays. After catching 68 passes last season (for a sick 19.3 yards-per-catch average) and hauling in 14 TDs, Jeudy will be expected to do awesome things. Penciling him in for an 80-yard TD catch on the Tide’s first offensive play from scrimmage sounds about right.

3. Quentin Harris will also leave the game before its conclusion

We present this not to drag the lad, as the Duke senior quarterback by all accounts seems like a decent enough fellow. Never cheated on his girlfriend. Always cleaned his plate after dinner. Made his bed most mornings before school. Be that as it may … there is an off chance that Quentin Harris could decide he doesn’t like playing intercollegiate tackle football anymore after Saturday. Alabama’s defense has a history of legalized attempted manslaughter against opposing QBs, especially those who appear in front of them after a debilitating loss. Making matters triply worse is that Harris is a bit of a running quarterback and Duke RB Marvin Hubbard III is hobbled by injury. Put simply: This won’t end well for Harris.

4. Nick Saban to absolutely light up some poor reporter

You want Nick Saban to eviscerate the soul of a mild-mannered scribe after a 31-point victory in which all the boxes were seemingly checked. You need him to do it. Imagine the abject horror of Alabama turning in such a complete performance that Saban really has nothing to gripe about. Imagine the gasps if Saban makes it through an entire post-game news conference without turning some random question about Tua’s 21-for-22 first half into a screed that peels the paint off the walls. It has become something of an Atlanta neutral-site game tradition. Saban already fired a warning shot of sorts with a smiling rant about giving players second chances. That was just a tune-up ….

5. Alabama to not cover the spread

We think this is generally good for business not because we expect a close game. After all, see points 1-4. But somewhat in tandem with the thesis behind No. 4, it would be best if Alabama doesn’t beat Duke’s hindquarters by more than 35 points. Not only would such a lopsided beatdown exhibit the kind of poor form that Saban strains to avoid, but why rattle the cage of ACC’s Vanderbilt if it somehow tangentially becomes negative ammunition down the road. Lines this big are simply to get folks/suckers to bet some on Duke. The money line of Alabama -11000 isn’t exactly moving the needle. Alabama doesn’t need to romp Duke like they are Athletes In Action to make the necessary statement. Simply a dominant first half will do the trick. Anything else would be uncivilized.