Alabama is in the position of coming off a loss. Those have been rare under coach Nick Saban, but it’s terrible timing for visiting Louisiana Monroe, who will face the Tide as it focuses on taking out some frustration and working out its issues before traveling to Georgia for another big-time SEC matchup. Here’s a look at five players to keep an eye on as Alabama tries to fix what went wrong against Ole Miss.

1. Alabama WR Richard Mullaney — The graduate transfer from Oregon State has gradually become a bigger and bigger part of the Alabama offense and with Robert Foster now out for the season with an injury, the Tide will need even more production from the steady veteran. Mullaney has 10 catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns this season. Those aren’t incredible statistics, but none of the Alabama wideouts have eye-popping numbers and Mullaney is coming off a nice game against Ole Miss. If his comfort level continues to grow, it could make a huge difference.

2. Louisiana Monroe QB Garrett Smith — Smith won the job as a freshman and has been very good in the Warhawks’ first two games, even at Georgia when ULM suffered a blowout loss. Alabama is bigger, stronger and deeper at almost every position, but Smith is good enough to make some plays and will keep the Bama defense on its toes. He’s completing 79 percent of his passes and has five touchdowns to one interception, efficient numbers for a QB that will need to be mistake-free. If the game is somehow close going down to the wire, Smith is the kind of quarterback the Warhawks want taking snaps.

3. Alabama CB Cyrus Jones — The fact that the Warhawks have a decent quarterback means it’s a nice opportunity for the Alabama secondary to work on issues that plagued it against Ole Miss. Jones actually had a pretty solid game against the Rebels, but as the Tide heads toward the meat of the SEC schedule it would be a big deal for Bama if Jones could go from pretty solid to a shutdown corner. Last season, he gave up too many big plays. He’s improved, but he’s definitely somebody to keep an eye on as the Tide tries to raise its game to championship level.

4. Alabama DB Marlon Humphrey — In contrast to Jones, Humphrey had a few struggles against Ole Miss and blew coverage on a 73-yard touchdown pass. The Tide want to see better play out of the redshirt freshman because somebody needs to step up and handle increased duties as Alabama finds itself in nickel and dime packages more and more often against teams that love to throw the ball.

5. Alabama QB Jake Coker — After Cooper Bateman got the start against Ole Miss, it looks like Coker is going to be back in the starting lineup against ULM. Coker had a decent game when he got in against the Rebels, completing 21 of 45 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had two interceptions. The Tide needs to get this quarterback situation sorted out, and perhaps this is the kind of game where Coker can work on his timing and develop some confidence.