SEC PREVIEW ALABAMA

0-2 finish serves as Saban's elixir

Alabama coach Nick Saban speaks to media at the Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days on Thursday, July 17, 2014, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

The 13th in a series of articles previewing SEC football teams going into the 2014 season.

Anything less than a national championship game appearance makes it difficult to motivate Alabama football players in the postseason, Nick Saban confessed during the ESPN "car wash" earlier this week.

It's a lofty attitude, but it's one Saban has cultivated from the moment he took over a Crimson Tide program in 2007 that had roamed mostly in the college football wilderness for the previous decade.

ALABAMA

2014 schedule

&Aug. 30 vs. West Virginia, 2:30 p.m. (ABC)

Sept. 6 Florida Atlantic, 11 a.m. (SECN)

Sept. 13 Southern Miss, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

*Sept. 20 Florida

*Oct. 4 at Ole Miss

*Oct. 11 at Arkansas

*Oct. 18 Texas A&M

*Oct. 25 at Tennessee

*Nov. 8 at LSU

*Nov. 15 Miss. State

Nov. 22 Western Carolina

*Nov. 29 Auburn

& Chick-fil-A Classic

*SEC game

Alabama glance

Last season 11-2, 7-1 (tied for 1st) in SEC West

Coach Nick Saban (74-15 in 8th year at Alabama, 180-74-1 in 21st year overall)

Returning starters Offense 7, Defense 5, Special teams 1

Key returning players WR Amari Cooper, RB T.J. Yeldon, TE O.J. Howard, DB Landon Collins, LB Trey DePriest, RS Christion Jones

SEC title scenario The offensive front must jell quickly in new coordinator Lane Kiffin’s schemes to allow whomever wins the quarterback job to dole the ball to the Tide’s array of skill talent. The play in the secondary, a specialty of Saban’s and coordinator Kirby Smart, must be markedly improved for Alabama to contend.

Alabama fell short of winning its third consecutive BCS national championship last year, tripping against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, then dropping a 45-31 shootout against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.

The Sugar Bowl tested Saban's motivational skills, but on the flip side, ending last season with two losses has the Tide alive and hungry entering the new season.

"Playing for Alabama, we have such a winning atmosphere, you don't know what it's like to lose," junior receiver Amari Cooper said.

A strong nucleus of returning talent -- buoyed by the tailback trio of T.J. Yeldon, Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake, all of whom scored touchdowns against Arkansas last season -- has Alabama back in the championship discussion again, but Saban said that outcome can only happen with change.

"We have to re-establish our identity as a team at Alabama," Saban said at SEC media days. "It's going to take every player to have a tremendous amount of buy-in for us to be able to do that.

"I think you basically need to check your ego at the door, all of us in our organization -- players, coaches, everybody in our organization."

Quarterback AJ McCarron, who led Alabama to two national championships, is gone, along with five All-SEC players, including linebacker C.J. Mosley and left tackle Cyrus Kouandijo. But Alabama is positioned to reload like few other programs in the country after years of strong recruiting.

Florida State transfer Jacob Coker is expected to battle senior Blake Sims for the job of quarterbacking an offense that is loaded with skill talent. Veteran receivers Cooper and Christion Jones and tight end O.J. Howard, all preseason All-SEC picks by the media along with Yeldon and left guard Arie Kouandijo, will give the starting quarterback plenty of weapons.

Saban hired former Tennessee and USC head coach Lane Kiffin to coordinate the offense after Doug Nussmeier left for the same job at Michigan.

"He understands what type of standard we set here at Alabama," Jones said. "It's the same sort of standard he's used to."

Alabama brings back five starters on defense: linebackers Denzel Devall and Trey DePriest, defensive backs Landon Collins and Jarrick Williams and nose guard Brandon Ivory. But many players rising into starting positions have played significant snaps, including sophomore end A'Shawn Robinson, who was voted preseason All-SEC by conference media.

The Crimson Tide added six five-star signees in their latest class, which was ranked No. 1 by Rivals.com for the fourth consecutive year.

Collins was asked about being picked to win the SEC even after Alabama lost its last two games.

"It's great to have that type of respect and that type of acknowledgement to win the SEC, even though we lost to a great team last year," he said.

Alabama has played in six consecutive January bowls, including a 3-0 record in BCS championship games.

The Crimson Tide should be hungry after losing their final two games, which has happened to

This is the third time a Saban-coached team has entered a new season after closing with consecutive losses since he entered the conference at LSU in 2000. His 2002 team at LSU and his 2008 team at Alabama both lost their last two games, then went on to capture the BCS national championship the following year.

The sting of losing the Iron Bowl to Auburn on a 109-yard missed field goal return on the game's final play has Alabama hungry for another championship run.

"Whenever we get all high and mighty, he [Saban] knows how to break us down to how easy and how quick something can get taken away from us," Jones said. "Because everyone knows that Auburn game was really just snatched away from us, and the SEC championship was snatched away from us, and the national championship. That really humbles you as a team and lets you know that no one can get complacent. It makes you want to fight more every game this year."

Up next: Kentucky

Sports on 07/27/2014