(This is the first of a series of articles in our annual SEC Preview leading up to the beginning of Fall Camp on August 5th)

Last year, Alabama used the memory of a crushing end to the 2008 season to help the Crimson Tide focus on its goals and roll through a perfect 2009 campaign that ended with its first Bowl Championship Series title and Heisman Trophy Winner.

Now, a year later, Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban says it’s time to forget 2009.

“We’re not into repeating…..It’s more difficult to focus on the process of what it takes to being successful when you’re coming off of success. ” Saban said at last week’s SEC Media Days.

“That’s certainly going to be the challenge for our team, our players’ willingness to focus on doing the right things, the things that are necessary. To create an identity for this team in terms of what this team wants to accomplish and what this team can do in this football season is what we’re trying to focus on.”

Turning the page on the 2009 season may be easier said than done for Alabama, which, despite losing 11 starters (8 from a stifling defense) as well as last year’s starting kicker, punter and ace return man, is the presumptive national pick to win the BCS Championship, again.

But, if there is a team equipped to refocus and reload it’s Bama, behind it’s no-nonsense head coach and a stable of top-notch athletes who have been biding their time behind upperclassmen and will now get their opportunity after 13 members of last year’s squad signed professional contracts.

Junior running back Mark Ingram (5-10 215), the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, thinks this year’s Alabama team could be better than it was during last year’s dream season.

“Last year we were good but I think this year we can be better,” Ingram said after Bama’s Spring Game in April.  “We have a lot of talent all over the field, young guys that are hungry trying to prove themselves, and older players that know what they are doing and what it takes to win. I think once we mesh all that together we should be alright.”

Alabama Offense

Two players who have already meshed quite well are Ingram, and sophomore running back Trent Richardson from Pensacola, Florida. Ingram racked up 1658 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground last year during his run to the record books.

Meanwhile, Richardson, who attended the same high school  (Escambia)  as his idol, NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, rushed for 751 yards and 8 touchdowns last year as a true freshman while splitting carries with Ingram.

Both are 2010 preseason 1st-team All-SEC selections and together have the potential to form one of the best backfield duos in recent SEC history (with the likes of Arkansas’ Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and Auburn’s Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown).

In order to do so, Ingram and Richardson will have to rely on continued maturation from their quarterback, Greg McElroy.

A year ago, McElroy was the big question mark on the Alabama team. Fourteen wins and a couple of championships later, he has his eyes on another title.

If he leads Bama to a second consecutive ring, McElroy would undoubtedly vault from being considered a poor man’s Jay Barker (QB of the 1993 Alabama National Championship team and husband of country music star Sara Evans) to an icon in the land of Houndstooth hats.

McElroy, who is applying for a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship is smart enough to know that, with opposing defenses focused on slowing down Alabama’s running game, he will have the opportunity to add more punch to the passing than he did a year ago.

His primary target, once again, will be much-ballyhoed, and, to this point, overhyped, wide receiver Julio Jones (6-4, 211).

Despite bursting onto the college football scene in 2008 as one of the best and most talked-about freshmen in the country, and being McElroy’s passing security blanket in 2009, Jones did not finish in the Top 10 of any of the SEC statistical categories a year ago.

In 2009, Jones had 43 receptions for 496 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. And, for his career, in two full seasons (28 games) Jones has a total of 101 catches, 1,520 yards and eight receiving touchdowns (with a 12-game touchdown drought on his resume’).

While those numbers are certainly respectable, and Jones has, at times, flashed glimpses of his tremendous potential, he is not currently worthy of his SEC household-name status and 1st-Team All Conference accolades. 

Nevertheless, Jones is one of eight Alabama players (5 on offense) that were selected to the All-SEC Conference 1st Team by the media. Joining Jones, Ingram and Richardson on the 1st Team Offense are Offensive Lineman Barrett Jones and James Carpenter.

As a unit, the Alabama offense will have to be potent, particularly early in the conference slate, to give a reloading Alabama defense an opportunity to get its feet on the ground.

Alabama Defense

Saban and company have the unenviable task of replacing eight defensive starters, including headliners Rolando McClain (LB) (8th overall pick by the Oakland Raiders), Kareem Jackson (CB)(20th overall pick by the Houston Texans) and Terrence “Mount” Cody (NG)(57th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens).

The key area of concern on the Alabama defense has to be the secondary, where the Crimson Tide will have to replace all four of its starters.

Sophomore cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is a budding star, but he underwent shoulder surgery following spring practice, and has a history of nagging injuries thus far in his college career.  Assuming he recovers well, Kirkpatrick should get the nod at one of the cornerback spots.

B.J. Scott, a former wide receiver who redshirted  in 2009 behind more experienced players, is entering his third year in the program and is the frontrunner for the other starting cornerback position.

Kirkpatrick and Scott will look to safety Mark Barron who was 3rd-team All-American a year ago, to provide stability and support in the secondary. And like any other group of defensive backs, they will need the front seven to pressure the opposing quarterback in order to be successful.

One potential defensive star who should wreck some havoc in the front seven is junior linebacker Dont’a Hightower (6-4, 258). Hightower missed much of last season after suffering a torn an ACL in his knee in the first quarter of Alabama’s 35-7 drubbing of Arkansas in late September. 

Although many compare Hightower to his former teammate McClain, Saban said the two are different in some respects. Per Saban, Hightower is the more versatile of the two and McClain, while also physically gifted, is more of a cerebral, defensive signal-caller.

“Dont’a is a little bit more of a pass-rusher, could play defensive end, and be a designated pass-rusher,“ Saban said. “He can move around, play multiple roles and positions. That’s how we were using him last year prior to his injury. We would like to be able to use him that way again this year if that’s possible.”

Hightower may not have as much room to roam with Cody, the behemoth noseguard and season-saver gone to the NFL. 

Junior Josh Chapman (6-1 313) has starting experience and will step into an integral role in place of Cody at the nose guard position in Bama’s 3-4 scheme.

If he is able to steer clear of eligibility issues stemming from allegations that he and several other high profile college athletes may have “taken their talents to South Beach”, defensive lineman Marcel Dareus should also be a force.

Dareus showed rare athleticism (See Left)  for a player of his size when picked off a shovel pass and took it 27-yards to the house for a pivotal touchdown in the BCS Championship game against Texas. Saban’s job will be made even more difficult, though, if Dareus is deemed ineligible.

Alabama Special Teams

Like its defense, Alabama’s special teams unit will have to overcome a mass exodus after losing it’s placekicker, Leigh Tiffin, return specialist and game-changer, Javier Arenas, and punter P.J. Fitzgerald.

Alabama took the relatively rare measure of handing out a scholarship to a punter–high school standout Jay Williams. And, as one of the premiere programs in the country, Alabama undoubtedly has capable replacements lined up at kicker and on returns.

However, as Tiffin’s early struggles at Alabama reflect, the kicking and punting duties at the major college level are an iffy proposition for any player, regardless of talent, until they put cleat to pigskin in front of 80,000 screaming fans.

The Schedule

Alabama’s schedule features a marquee matchup with fellow college football blue blood Penn State in Tuscaloosa on September 11. It will be the first matchup between the two in 20 years. Nonetheless, the uniforms of both squads have refreshingly remained essentially unchanged.

The battle with Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions will undoubtedly spark interest far and wide, but Alabama’s fortunes are likely to turn depending upon their success during a three-game stretch in which the Tide travels to Arkansas (Sept. 25), hosts Florida (Oct. 2) and then heads back on the road to face the ‘ole ball coach, Steve Spurrier, and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia (Oct. 9).

Alabama also travels to Baton Rouge on November 6, and although the Tigers are expected to be down, a bit, any road trip to Death Valley presents the distinct possibility of heading home with a loss.

What to Expect

Look for the Crimson Tide to again be very good, but lose a few games along the way in 2010.   Just as any team that survives the rugged SEC gauntlet, Alabama  was fortunate to emerge unscathed after close shaves against Tennessee and Auburn last season.

With a more demanding schedule and several players being asked to fill defensive voids this season it is highly unlikely that Alabama will run the table, again.

And, before Bama fans write that off as a homer take from an Arkansas blogger, they might want to consider this writer’s 2009 Alabama prediction, or better, yet, their head coach’s own words. 

“I see probably the two teams that lost the most just on paper are probably Alabama and Florida, who played in the championship game last year,” Saban said,  “I think there will be more parity in the league. And it will be more difficult week in and week out for all of us to determine the success we’re going to have and the challenge of being consistent.”

Alabama Offense:

Returning starters: 8

Key Players: Greg McElroy, QB, Julio Jones, WR, Marquis Maze

One to Watch: Trent Richardson, RB

Alabama Defense:

Returning Starters: 3

Key Players: Dont’a Hightower, LB, Marcel Dareus, DL, Dre Kirkpatrick, CB

One to Watch: Courtney Upshaw, LB

Key Game(s): @Arkansas (Sept. 25), Florida (Oct. 2), South Carolina (Oct. 9) @LSU (Nov. 6), AU (Nov. 26)

Schedule/Predicted Result: (10-2)

9/4 San Jose St.  W
9/11 Penn St.   W  
9/18 @ Duke   W
9/25 @ Arkansas  W
10/2 Florida   W
10/9 @ S. Carolina  L
10/16 Mississippi  W
10/23 @ Tennessee  W
OPEN DATE
11/6 @ LSU   L
11/13 Miss. St.  W
11/8 Georgia State  W
11/26 Auburn   W

Two Awesomely Bad Bama Vids. Love ‘Em.