.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
It was Alabama's night of glory. A national championship secured. Another entry in a proud history.
And coach Nick Saban was, well, being coach Nick Saban: A perfectionist with a lesson to teach.
''Coach Saban came down on us immediately after the game because of the way we played in the fourth quarter,'' quarterback Greg McElroy said.
Yep, Alabama was already planning a statue of the coach and celebration back on campus, but Saban was working toward next season - now this season - after that 37-21 victory over Texas in Pasadena, Calif., secured the Tide's seventh AP national title.
And there was plenty of work to do, even though Alabama is widely regarded as the favorite to repeat in both the Southeastern Conference and nationally.
Just don't call the Tide ''defending'' champions.
''The championship's a part of history and we're not going to defend anything,'' Saban insists.
He's hammered that much home to his players: Don't live in last year. Tide players at least seem to be listening after two straight perfect regular seasons.
''He's so strong-minded you don't even feel like you won anything,'' cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said.
Certainly not yet this season, whatever the expectations.
For a change, the front-runner status stems largely from a loaded offense, led by Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, fellow backfield mate Trent Richardson, wide receiver Julio Jones and steady leader McElroy. It's a collection of talent the Tide has traditionally been more likely to boast on the other side of the ball.
The defense is still packed with All-American types - only now they're prep All-Americans trying to make the leap to the SEC. Like the sophomore trio of cornerbacks Kirkpatrick and B.J. Scott and linebacker Nico Johnson.
Third-team AP All-American strong safety Mark Barron is the only returning defensive player who started more than four games last season. Linebacker Dont'a Hightower missed 10 games after a knee injury.
Defensive end Marcell Dareus was a star of the national championship game and is a ferocious pass rusher. His status to open the season is uncertain with an NCAA investigation into a trip he - and players from other schools - reportedly took to Miami in the spring.
The Tide must replace All-Americans Terrence Cody, Rolando McClain and Javier Arenas on defense, as well as first-round NFL draft pick Kareem Jackson.
''I do like the talent level we have,'' Saban said. ''I do like the attitude that the players have worked with. I think this is going to be a defensive team that improves throughout the course of the season.''
Alabama won't have much time for the young defenders to grow up. The Tide faces Penn State on Sept. 11, then visits Duke.
Plus, fellow SEC power Florida visits newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium on Oct. 2 in a rematch of the past two league championship games.
It's a treacherous schedule for a team trying to repeat as national champions, but a nice one for breaking in a bigger Bryant-Denny.
The stadium will now hold 101,821, making it the fifth-largest in football after a 9,000-seat addition. Fitting accommodations for a - sorry, coach - defending national champion.
The Saban statue, like his team, remains a work in progress and is expected to be erected sometime during the season.
Saban has been here before. His LSU team won a share of the national title in 2003, then ''fell'' to 9-3 the following season.
McElroy has also been part of title teams, playing on three Texas high school state champions. It's given him some idea of how to handle this.
''As a guy who's been around special teams, really successful teams, I don't want to have that complacency, that sense of relaxation,'' McElroy said. ''I want to feel pressed. I want to strive for something. We understand this year is completely different from last year. No one is going to hand us the trophy now because of what we accomplished this.''
A repeat title likely will require some good fortune - like Cody's two blocked field goals in a two-point win over Tennessee.
Josh Chapman is expected to replace Cody in the middle of the line this season. The 310-pounder has played in 29 games and was a third-down specialist behind Cody but doesn't quite have the same space-clogging size.
The backfield is the Tide's biggest strength. Both Ingram, the school's first Heisman winner, and the sophomore Richardson ran for 100-plus yards against Texas.
Then there's Jones, a physical, playmaking receiver who was slowed somewhat by injuries last season.
McElroy is 30-0 as a starter going back to high school. He was intercepted only four times on 325 pass attempts in 2009.
Despite all that, McElroy knows how slender the margin between victory and defeat can be sometimes.
''All you can really do is put your best foot forward on the way to winning a game,'' he said. ''The right things have to fall into place for you to win a national championship. Last year, in the Tennessee game if that kick had been four inches either way we wouldn't have been in that situation later.''
