College football is nearly upon us. So with the season looming large and the Alabama Crimson Tide poised to repeat as national champions, I'll take a look at a few key games and players to look at for the 2010 season.
Offensive Expectations: The Tide should be more balanced on offense this season as Greg McElroy now has a national title under his belt and more experience, not to mention the loaded receiving corps that includes Julio Jones. Expect Alabama to still rely heavily on the run with Heisman winner Mark Ingram and a punishing Ton, but Nick Saban's crew should feed off of that and average more than 200 yards per game.
The Defense: The defense shouldn't have that much of a drop off from last season, but with the loss of Terrence Cody and Roland McClain will definitely have an effect. Even with the loss of those players, Alabama's defense is still heavy with NFL-quality players and should be just fine.
Schedule: Alabama won't be playing in the kickoff game this year but will be playing in a big non-conference game early in the season, playing host to Penn State in just the second week. The obvious game to watch would be against Florida on Oct. 2, but keep a close eye on the Sept. 25 game at Arkansas for the Tide to slip up. The Hogs return Ryan Mallett and an explosive offense, and could pose the first real threat to Alabama's defense.
--Josh Carpenter
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