Alabama finished last season atop the college football world, and that’s exactly where it begins this season, coming in as the unanimous No. 1 in the alligatorSports’ preseason college football poll.
But coach Nick Saban, who has won national championships at both LSU and Alabama, knows that was last season and in order to get back to the top this year, his team will have to stay hungry and stay focused. And that will be no easy feat.
“You really can’t look in the rearview mirror and be able to accomplish these things,” Saban said at Southeastern Conference Media Days last month. “You have to look forward and stay focused on the present moment in terms of what it takes to be successful.”
As if repeating as national champions in college football isn’t difficult enough – Nebraska was the last school to win back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995 (both Associated Press titles) – Alabama will have to replace a lot of components of last year’s title-winning team. The Tide lose 11 starters combined on offense and defense, plus their kicker and punter.
Of the losses, Alabama’s defense takes the biggest hit, losing eight of 11 starters from last year. Out of those eight defensive players, six were drafted in April’s NFL Draft, including linebacker Rolando McClain (105 total tackles, four sacks, two interceptions), cornerbacks Kareem Jackson (49 tackles, 13 passes broken up) and Javier Arenas (71 tackles, five interceptions, five sacks), and behemoth defensive tackle/gap-plugger Terrence Cody (28 tackles, six tackles for a loss).
Despite those losses, Alabama does return a starter at each level of the defense. In the secondary, defensive back Mark Barron returns to lead the defense. He led the team with seven interceptions – including one for a touchdown – and was second in tackles with 76.
At linebacker, Dont’a Hightower returns after an injury that kept him out of all but four games in 2009. Saban has said Hightower could move around on defense and play multiple roles.
On the line, Alabama returns BCS title game MVP Marcell Dareus, who led the team with six and a half sacks last year. However, his status is up in the air, as he is the subject of an ongoing NCAA investigation.
While the defense is going through quite a makeover, the offense should look familiar. The Tide return eight starters, including running back Mark Ingram, who rushed for 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns en route to becoming the first player in school history to win the Heisman.
Joining Ingram in the backfield is Trent Richardson, who rushed for 751 yards and eight scores as a freshman behind Ingram. The two will combine to form arguably the best one-two punch in college football.
Quarterback Greg McElroy, who hasn’t lost a game as a starter since the eighth grade and did an ample job of managing the offense in his first year as a starter for Alabama, also returns, as does his favorite target, wide receiver Julio Jones.
To make things even easier for those skill players on offense, three starters return on the offensive line, so the offense shouldn’t lose a step. And if Saban can get the newcomers on defense to buy into his scheme, Alabama is a real threat to repeat as national champions.
