2010 NCAA Football Preview: Alabama
Nick Saban did it again, except this time it took one less season to accomplish.
When LSU named him their head coach in November of 1999, they knew they had an architect that could bring them a championship; thanks to Saban, four years later they had one. After a short stay in the professional ranks he took over the head coaching job at Alabama. This time it only took him three to win a national title.
Now Saban will have an even tougher job ahead of him, having to follow up a championship season without experiencing a let-down. What will make that job even tougher than it already is will be the bulls-eye that sits squarely on his team. Every opponent they face will look at a win against the ‘Tide as an indicator of a successful season and will be pulling out all the stops to take them down.
While having most of the offense returning will help, Saban will also be faced with replacing most of his defense. However, the one thing that he has going for him is one simple fact: his Crimson Tide are the champions until someone proves different.
Offence
The Crimson Tide will have no trouble scoring points in 2010. Back are all the skill positions and their very capable back-up players.
Senior quarterback Greg McElroy will be asked to do more of what he did last season; manage the game and pass enough to keep teams from keying on the running game. He’s a capable enough college quarterback; last season he threw for 2508 yards after completing 61% of his passes. What makes him really good is that he makes few mistakes; last season he only threw four interceptions compared to 17 touchdowns.
The bread and butter will still be with the running backs. Heisman winner Mark Ingram returns for his junior season after running for 1658 yards on 271 carries in 2009 with 17 touchdowns. His ever capable and talented back-up, Trent Richardson, returns and will look to add onto the 751 yards he gained last season off of 145 carries; Richardson will likely benefit most from the loss of Roy Upchurch.
Juniors Marquis Maze and Julio Jones return, but with the run being the focus of the offense will be a secondary thought at best. If the Alabama offense is going to hurt anywhere in 2010 it would be the offensive line. Saban will have to a tackle and guard; with the talent that he’s recruited that should not be a problem.
Defence
When a team loses a number of players to the NFL, it's always a sure sign it had a good defence. Replacing players like Rolando McClain and Terrence Cody is something no coach looks forward to. Losing both of your starting cornerbacks to the NFL is not fun either.
The group that will hurt the most will be the front four; the defensive line is not returning a single starter. Neither senior Luther Davis nor juniors Josh Chapman and Marcell Dareus have had a lot of playing time, but will be looked at early on to be potential starters.
Dont’a Hightower is the sole returning linebacker. He started 12 of 14 games as a freshman making 62 tackles that year. He was on track to have another good year in 2009 before a knee injury in the opening weeks cut his season short. The coaching staff is confident that he has the talent and ability to be the new leader of the young defense that will be on the field in 2010.
While both cornerbacks moved onto the NFL, the Crimson Tide does have both safeties returning. Mark Barron and Robby Green return to lead a retooled secondary; Barron contributed 74 tackles and seven interceptions including one that was returned for a touchdown and Green another 33 tackles and one interception.
When you finish the season at #1 you should start the following season there as well. For Saban and the ‘Tide to stay there will on depend on how well he is able to retool the defense.
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