HOOVER, Ala. -- Alabama is 23-4 the past two seasons, but senior linebacker Reggie Ragland said the Crimson Tide haven't been their dominating selves.
The Tide lost their final two games in 2013 -- at Auburn and to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl -- and lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl last season in a semifinal game as part of the first College Football Playoff.
Alabama glance
LAST SEASON 12-2, 7-1 (first SEC West)
COACH Nick Saban (86-17 in eight seasons at Alabama, 177-59-1 in 19 seasons overall)
RETURNING STARTERS (11): Offense 2, Defense 7, Speciality 2
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS LB Reggie Ragland, NG A’Shawn Robinson, RB Derrick Henry, RB Kenyan Drake
SEC TITLE SCENARIO Alabama lacks experience, especially on offense, but the Tide have piled up talent with their always highly-rated recruiting classes. A big key is finding a reliable starting quarterback who can deliver the way Blake Sims did last season.
Alabama
2015 SCHEDULE
Sept. 5 vs Wisconsin at Arlington, Texas
Sept. 12 Middle Tennessee State
*Sept. 19 Ole Miss
Sept. 26 Louisiana-Monroe
*Oct. 3 at George
*Oct. 10 Arkansas
*Oct. 17 at Texas A&M
*Oct. 24 Tennessee
*Nov. 7 LSU
*Nov. 14 at Mississippi State
Nov. 21 Charleston Southern
*Nov. 28 at Auburn
It's the first time Alabama has ended back-to-back seasons with bowl losses since 1989 and 1990, when they lost to Miami in the Sugar Bowl and to Louisville in the Fiesta Bowl.
While Alabama won the SEC title last season, it lost at Ole Miss and had three SEC victories -- including 14-13 at Arkansas -- decided by seven or fewer points. The Tide had to go into overtime to win 20-13 at LSU.
The Razorbacks lost to the Tide by a combined 104-0 in 2012 and 2013 before Alabama escaped Fayetteville last season when Arkansas lost a fumble at the goal line to negate a touchdown and missed an extra point.
"Guys aren't scared to play us anymore," Ragland said at SEC media days. "That's a fact. Teams come in very happy and excited to play us."
In the past, he added, Alabama had teams beaten by halftime.
"I used to see teams break down in the first half and just give up playing," Ragland said. "We've got to get that back."
Nick Saban, 86-17 in eight seasons as Alabama's coach, may have set the bar ridiculously high when he led the Tide to three national championships in a four-year period by winning it all in 2009, 2010 and 2012 with a combined 49-5 record, including 4-0 in bowls.
"We're not allowed to have a bad season, because the fans will let you know when you're playing badly," Ragland said.
"It's going to be a challenge for our team to re-establish the identity that we would like to play with," Saban said. "We want to be more physical and tougher at the line of scrimmage, be relentless in the way that we compete so that we're never affected by what happens in a game."
Saban, a former defensive coordinator, watched the Tide hang on to beat Auburn 55-44 and lose to eventual national champion Ohio State 42-35 last season.
"We did not finish the season the way we wanted in terms of how we played," Saban said. "We turned the ball over too much and we gave up too many explosive plays on defense. We gave up too many points because of a combination of those things."
A focus of Alabama's fall camp will be establishing a starting quarterback to replace Blake Sims, who in his only season as a starter passed for a school-record 3,487 yards with 28 touchdowns.
The Tide have five scholarship quarterbacks, with redshirt senior Jake Coker and redshirt freshman David Cornell looking like the top candidates. Coker, a transfer from Florida State, may finally get his shot to start after redshirting and backing up Sims.
Saban said one of the quarterbacks needs to emerge and play like Sims did.
"I think we have several guys that are capable of it," Saban said. "I don't think anybody's come to the forefront as of yet, and I don't think it's something that we can force to happen. I think we've got to let it happen."
The only two returning starters on offense are center Ryan Kelly and tackle Cam Robinson, but running backs Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake should be a play-makers.
Henry rushed for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, while Drake is coming back from a broken leg that sidelined him the final nine games last season.
"I think Kenyan has tremendous versatility," Saban said. "He has great speed and good running skills, but he's also a fantastic receiver."
Saban said Alabama's team chemistry going into the Ohio State game "was affected by something" and added that it could have been six seniors getting their draft evaluations.
Receiver Amari Cooper was Alabama's only first-round pick, going No. 4 to Oakland.
"A guy that thought he was a first-round pick finds out he's not, and we're trying to get ready for a playoff game," Saban said.
Saban said he'd like to see a change where players learn of their evaluations after the season is completed.
"I'd say guys got distracted by people in their ear," Ragland said of draft speculation before playing Ohio State. "With me, the people that were in my ear, I wouldn't answer the phone. I was just worried about playing football.
"A lot of guys got sidetracked by that, but I think this year we've got a lot of guys that aren't worried about the NFL. They're just worried about right now."
Drake, who with a big season could be a high NFL pick as a junior, said the Tide are confident they can win the national championship.
"It's always about finish, finish, finish," Drake said. "That's our whole motto, and we haven't done that the last two years."
Sports on 07/19/2015