ESPN College Football

Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about his offensive line earlier this week.

Never missing a chance to send a message, Saban went into an abbreviated version of what he's been hammering home to his team for the last few weeks.

"Somewhere along the line this year, we sort of lost our edge," Saban said. "I’m not talking about our offensive line. I’m talking about our team, and I’m talking about the intangible edge of playing with toughness and giving effort. We got too satisfied with winning and not playing to a standard."

There are some things Saban absolutely won't budge on, and one of them is doing things the right way and playing with focus, intensity and purpose no matter what the score or the opponent.

I think back to the 2008 season and can still hear him in the adjacent locker room skewering his team following a lackluster second half against Georgia, even though Alabama won 41-30 on the road against a Georgia team ranked No. 3 coming into the game. Saban was furious, though, with how his team played in the second half.

In short, they lost their edge.

He's had his foot on the throat of this team ever since he sensed something was missing in the first half of that Arkansas game back on Sept. 18. It didn't catch up with the Tide then, but it did a few weeks later in Columbia when they had their 19-game winning streak snapped by South Carolina.

You've heard him talk a lot recently about toughness. He's challenged his team repeatedly in that area.

Is this team tough enough?

We're going to find out, but Saban said there's no question that losing that edge this season has affected Alabama's entire team.

"If we’re going to be a good football team and continue to improve, it’s going to be important that we get that back," said Saban, whose club faces Tennessee on Saturday night in Knoxville.

One of the reasons the Crimson Tide never lost that edge a year ago was Rolando McClain, particularly on defense. He was as hard on his teammates (sometimes harder) as Saban. Alabama misses his presence, not only in the middle of that defense with his productivity and all of his knowledge, but the Tide also miss him in the locker room.

"Rolando McClain was the alpha dog of that group, the signal-caller," Saban said. "Having that kind inspirational leader is always difficult to replace."

If you’re going to play defense for Nick Saban, you better be versatile.

And ideally, you better be able to fill a couple of different roles, especially with Alabama playing as much situational defense as it does in its 3-4 scheme.

Dont’a Hightower exemplifies the kind of hybrid player Saban is looking for, and it’s no coincidence that Saban called him the best linebacker in the country when he was recruiting Hightower as part of the Crimson Tide’s star-studded 2008 signing class.

“He’s already played a lot of good football for us, but his role on this team is only going to grow,” Saban said.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Hightower will take over for Rolando McClain this season as Alabama’s middle linebacker. He’ll call the signals, make the checks and be the quarterback on defense when the Crimson Tide are in their base set.

But on passing downs, Hightower will become a defensive end. He’ll slide outside, put his hand down and rush the passer. And there may even be times when the Crimson Tide are in their nickel defense that he drops into coverage.

“That’s part of the fun of playing in this defense,” said Hightower, who’s battled back from a season-ending knee injury in the fourth game a year ago. “There are so many layers to this defense. We’re always coming at a team from a different angle, throwing a different wrinkle at them and using guys in different roles.

“I take a lot of pride in being able to move around and give us something against the run and the pass. That’s what this defense is based on. We want to dictate the matchups, not them.”

Hightower has tremendous speed for a guy his size. In fact, he’s faster than McClain was covering sideline to sideline and has excellent burst off the edge when he’s rushing the passer.

One of the keys in utilizing Hightower extensively this season as a pass-rusher is somebody else, namely Chris Jordan or Nico Johnson, demonstrating that they can handle all the duties of middle linebacker when Hightower does move outside.

Last season, McClain stayed in the middle and didn’t move around. A big part of his value was knowing the Alabama defense inside and out, and he ran things from his middle linebacker position.

“He was a good blitzer. He was a playmaker. He made a lot of plays,” Saban said of McClain. “But he was the signal-caller and stayed in that position all the time. I’m hopeful that Dont’a will not just have to be the signal-caller all the time, so he can play some of those other roles as well, because they are tremendous assets for him and would be assets for our defense.”

Hightower scoffs when he hears somebody say the Crimson Tide can’t possibly be as hungry as they were last season after going 14-0 and winning the national championship.

“I think we’ll be even hungrier, especially on defense,” Hightower said. “We want our own ring, and we all have something to prove. I know I do. I don’t want people to be able to say, ‘He came back from his knee injury, but was never the same again.’

“I want my best football to be ahead of me.”

The SEC's seven first-round NFL draft picks on Thursday night was second to the Big 12's nine.

The SEC has now had five picks in the top 20 of the first round four years in a row.

The first-round proceedings Thursday night reminded us all one more time that how decorated you are at the college level and how many awards you win aren't real important in the eyes of pro scouts.

Take Alabama cornerback Kareem Jackson, for instance. He played in the shadow of Javier Arenas all season a year ago. Arenas was a consensus All-American and one of the "stars" of the defense. It was all Jackson could do to earn honorable mention All-SEC status.

Still, he was solid all season as a shutdown cornerback, ran great times in the 40-yard dash and wound up being the fourth defender drafted from the league, going 20th overall to the Houston Texans.

Jackson is another one of those guys who wasn't highly recruited, either. He went to Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy out of school even though he was qualified academically and was committed initially to Vanderbilt until Nick Saban and Alabama jumped on him.

Say this, too, for Jackson. He's supremely confident in his abilities. He turned pro this past season despite Saban telling him he needed another season of college ball.

As for guys who slipped, who would have thought at the end of the regular season last year that Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap wouldn't go in the first round?

At that point, he was being projected as a top 15 pick by all the analysts. But that next week, he was arrested on DUI charges, was suspended for the SEC championship game, and apparently some of his interviews with teams following the season didn't go well.

In Friday night's second and third rounds, one of the SEC guys to watch will be LSU defensive tackle Al Woods. After a so-so college career, Woods really shot up draft boards this offseason with solid workouts.

And who will be the first SEC player to get picked in the second round?

I'll go with Alabama's Terrence Cody, but my dark horse is Ole Miss' Dexter McCluster.

Here's the complete list of SEC first-rounders on Thursday:

• No. 5 -- S Eric Berry, Tennessee, Kansas City Chiefs
• No. 7 -- CB Joe Haden, Florida, Cleveland Browns
• No. 8 -- LB Rolando McClain, Alabama, Oakland Raiders
• No. 18 -- C/G Maurkice Pouncey, Florida, Pittsburgh Steelers
• No. 20 - CB Kareem Jackson, Alabama, Houston Texans
• No. 25 -- QB Tim Tebow, Florida, Denver Broncos
• No. 26 -- DT Dan Williams, Tennessee, Arizona Cardinals

Alabama got the answer it had hoped for concerning Dont’a Hightower’s surgically repaired knee this spring.

He feverishly worked his way back in six months and actually went through some contact, his knee looking as strong as ever.

If he stays healthy, Hightower will undoubtedly be one of the best linebackers in the SEC, maybe one of the best in the country.

But for the Alabama defense to approach the dizzying standard it set a year ago during its national championship run, Hightower will have to take on much more of a leadership role.

It’s something he’s talked at length with Alabama coach Nick Saban about and a duty Hightower takes as seriously as chasing down a quarterback on third down.

“I’m ready. I led in high school,” Hightower said. “When I got here, I really didn’t have to lead. My freshman year, we had Rashad [Johnson]. And then last year, we had Rolando [McClain] and Javy [Arenas].

“I feel comfortable enough, knowing this defense, to be a leader, and I feel comfortable enough knowing that my teammates respect me. I just feel really confident in my knowledge of this defense and everything it takes to be a leader.”

The Crimson Tide will use Hightower in a number of different roles again this season. He’s their middle linebacker in their base defense, also plays in the nickel and moves to the pass-rushing jack linebacker position on passing downs.

The 6-foot-4 Hightower said he got up to around 270 pounds after his surgery and ended the spring at a little more than 260. He’d like to play at 255 next season.

“Just having him out there was good for everybody, even those of us on offense,” Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said. “When you’re going against players of his caliber every day, it can’t help but make you better. You don’t see guys that fast, that big and that explosive every day.”

Watching his teammates win the national championship last season after going down the fourth week of the season was bittersweet for Hightower.

It killed him not being out there.

“The pain was there, and I didn’t want to do the rehab at first,” Hightower said. “But I looked out on the field and saw how much success we were having, and that just drove me more and more.

“I know the record says we won a national championship. But to me, it didn’t really feel like I did anything. We had a lot of success, and I’m glad that we did. But I can’t help but feel that I didn’t have a lot to do with it besides being a coach. That just motivates me more and more to get back to where we were last year and win another national championship.”

Hightower’s assessment of the 2010 version of Alabama’s defense is pretty simple.

“Relentless and fast,” he said.

And for anybody thinking that the Crimson Tide will be content with what they accomplished last season, Hightower said they might want to think again.

“I don’t feel like we’re thinking, ‘We won a national championship last year, so we don’t have to work as hard,’” Hightower said. “I think it’s more, ‘We know what it takes to get to the national championship again, so let’s not deviate from the plan we had last year. Let’s come in with more energy, more enthusiasm, more mental focus, and let’s do it again … even better.’”

Former Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain had a shortened workout for NFL scouts Wednesday during the Crimson Tide's pro day.

McClain said he ran in the 4.6 range in the 40-yard dash, but the biggest news to come out of the workout was McClain's revelation that he has battled Crohn's disease since he was a freshman in high school. McClain said he takes four or five pills a day to help him manage the disease, which is a chronic inflammation of the intestines.

McClain also said that he's dealt with a hamstring injury since the Tennessee game last season. He hopes to run the 40-yard dash again and get his time down.

Former Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody weighed in at 349 pounds Tuesday. That's after weighing 370 at the Senior Bowl, which no doubt hurt his stock. Cody wants to be down to 340 pounds by the draft.

Every year in the SEC, there are some big shoes to fill.

But next season, we're talking size 18s, 19s and 20s everywhere you look.

When you factor in the talented juniors leaving the conference, new faces, new leaders and new playmakers are going to have to step up like never before in 2010.

That said, here’s a look at the biggest shoes to fill in the league next season. As you might imagine, the names are familiar ones:

1. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow: Contrary to popular belief, Tebow didn’t play seven seasons at Florida. It just seemed that way to everybody he beat up on. As a starter, he was a remarkable 35-6 with a Heisman Trophy, one SEC championship, one BCS national championship, two SEC championship game appearances and two BCS bowl wins. He scored more touchdowns than anybody who’s ever played in the SEC, and he was the kind of inspirational leader that coaches dream about having on their team. It’s impossible to replace everything that Tebow was to the Gators. He’s one of the best college football players of this era. Junior John Brantley gets first chance. He’s a different kind of quarterback than Tebow and is already an extremely polished passer. The Gators’ offense will change with Brantley, a highly recruited player who’s been waiting for his chance.

2. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain: One of the smartest players Nick Saban has ever coached, McClain was so many things, not only to the Alabama defense, but to the entire team. For one, he was that rock-solid, emotional leader all great teams have. But he was also that guy on the field who knew everybody’s position, knew everybody’s duties and made sure guys were in the right spots. On top of it all, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound McClain was one of the most productive linebackers in the country who was always making game-changing plays. With the Butkus Award winner deciding to turn pro early, Dont’a Hightower is the heir apparent to take over for McClain. Hightower is a great player in his own right, but is coming off reconstructive knee surgery. If he returns close to 100 percent, the Crimson Tide could have their second straight Butkus Award winner.

3. Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon: We’re going with Dixon at the No. 3 spot for a couple of different reasons. Most importantly, it’s always a chore to replace 126.5 rushing yards per game. Dixon led the SEC in that category. But here’s the other thing: Dixon WAS the Mississippi State offense last season. Dan Mullen rode him the entire season, and Dixon delivered with a record-setting season. With him gone (along with two other senior running backs), the Bulldogs will have to tweak things some offensively in 2010. Making it even more difficult is that there’s not a proven quarterback on campus. Chris Relf was the Bulldogs’ designated runner at quarterback last season and was good in that role. But he only attempted 41 passes in 10 games. Redshirt freshman Tyler Russell will get every chance to win the quarterback job this fall. But when things get hairy, he won't have the luxury of turning around and handing the ball off to Dixon.

4. Ole Miss running back Dexter McCluster: Staying in the state of Mississippi, there wasn’t a more productive or feared player in the league during the second half of the season than McCluster. From the Arkansas game on (or once he moved full time to running back), he carved opposing defenses apart and made the Rebels’ offense so much better with his ability to strike from long distance. The Rebels didn't have to put together long drives all the time because the speedy McCluster was popping long runs left and right. There’s not player in this league, let alone on Ole Miss’ roster, just like McCluster. After all, he became the first player in SEC history to rush for 1,000 yards and have 500 yards receiving in the same season in 2009. It may be that the Rebels have to divvy up his roles next season. Junior Brandon Bolden returns as the featured back, but junior college newcomer Randall Mackey looks like a great fit in the Wild Rebel formation. And Ole Miss also needs to find more ways to get the ball to Jesse Grandy. The wild card is Tim Simon, who looked great early on as a freshman before suffering a nasty knee injury. His recovery could be a lengthy one.

5. Tennessee safety Eric Berry: Even though Berry’s interception numbers were down last season, he was still the most complete safety in college football. The Jim Thorpe Award winner was used mostly as a hybrid linebacker in Monte Kiffin’s defensive system and ended up leading SEC defensive backs with 87 tackles, including seven for loss. Having a safety the caliber of Berry opens up so many other things for your defense. He makes up for mistakes, takes the pressure off more unproven players in the secondary and forces the opposing offensive coordinator to know where he is at all times. Berry was perennially around the ball and made so many things happen for the Vols the past three years. Plus, he provided some invaluable leadership for that defense. Janzen Jackson has the physical talent to be the next great safety at Tennessee. When he wasn’t suspended last season, he made his presence felt as a freshman. But he still has to prove that he’s going to do the right things both on and off the field.

We’ll take one final look at the last decade before we turn our attention to what lies ahead in the SEC.

On Tuesday, we ranked the top 10 players of the decade. So today, we unveil our all-decade team, which is broken down by position. The only rule was that a player had to play at least two seasons from 2000 to 2009 to be eligible.

This is what we came up with, so fire away:

OFFENSE

QB Tim Tebow, Florida

RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas

RB Mark Ingram, Alabama

WR Josh Reed, LSU

WR Sidney Rice, South Carolina

AP Percy Harvin, Florida

TE Ben Watson, Georgia

OL Shawn Andrews, Arkansas

OL Marcus McNeil, Auburn

OL Andre Smith, Alabama

OL Michael Oher, Ole Miss

C Jonathan Luigs, Arkansas

DEFENSE

DE David Pollack, Georgia

DE Alex Brown, Florida

DT Glenn Dorsey, LSU

DT John Henderson, Tennessee

LB Patrick Willis, Ole Miss

LB Rolando McClain, Alabama

LB DeMeco Ryans, Alabama

CB Joe Haden, Florida

CB Carlos Rogers, Auburn

S Eric Berry, Tennessee

S LaRon Landry, LSU

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Billy Bennett, Georgia

P Dustin Colquitt, Tennessee

KR Derek Abney, Kentucky

PR Javier Arenas, Alabama

All week long, we’ll be taking a look at the last decade in college football.

You know, the best players, the best coaches, the best teams, the best programs and the most memorable moments.

I welcome your feedback. When it comes to the SEC, I’m sure there won’t be any strong feelings.

One thing to keep in mind is that we’ll be looking at the period from 2000 through 2009. The more a player, coach or team did during those years, the more weight that player, coach or team will be given.

For instance, if there’s a choice between a player who starred from 1998-2001 and one who starred from 2004-2007, the latter is probably going to get the benefit of the doubt ... if it's close.

But not in every case.

In the end, we’re looking for the best the SEC had to offer over the last decade. That’s as simple as I can say it. Nonetheless, we all know how subjective (and fun) something like this can be.

That said, we’ll start with the top 10 players of the last decade in the SEC. It’s a crime to only pick 10 in a league like the SEC, but that was my task.

So here goes.

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida: The Heisman Trophy winner in 2007, Tebow set the SEC career record for touchdowns (57) and is the only player in major college history to run for 20 touchdowns and pass for 20 touchdowns in the same season when he did it in 2007. He won two national championships.

2. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU: The most dominant defensive lineman of the decade in the SEC, Dorsey was a two-time All-American and won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Award and Lott Trophy in 2007 on his way to leading the Tigers to a national championship.

3. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas: In a decade that featured some terrific running backs in the SEC, McFadden was the Rolls Royce. He was a two-time winner of the Doak Walker Award and Walter Camp National Player of the Year in 2007. He rushed for 3,477 yards and 30 touchdowns his last two seasons.

4. David Pollack, DE, Georgia: Joined Herschel Walker as Georgia’s only three-time first-team All-American. A two-time winner of the Ted Hendricks Award, Pollack also won the Lombardi Award, Bednarik Award and Lott Trophy in 2004 to become the most decorated defensive player in Georgia history.

5. Patrick Willis, LB, Ole Miss: The most decorated defensive player in Ole Miss history, Willis was a two-time All-American and won the Butkus and Lambert awards in 2006 as the nation’s top linebacker. He was a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year and led the nation in solo tackles in 2005.

6. Eric Berry, S, Tennessee: The SEC’s premier defensive back for the decade, Berry won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2009 and was a two-time finalist. The two-time All-American finished his career with 14 interceptions in three seasons and just missed the NCAA record for career interception return yardage.

7. Eli Manning, QB, Ole Miss: Earned first-team All-America honors in 2003 and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. Manning finished his career with a school-record 10,119 passing yards, ranking fifth all-time in the SEC, and also threw 81 career touchdowns, which was third all-time in the SEC.

8. Percy Harvin, RB/WR, Florida: The only thing keeping Harvin from being ranked higher on this list is that he was hampered by injuries. Still, he was easily the most explosive player of the decade. He ended his career with at least one touchdown scored in the last 15 games he played, and was a key cog in the Gators’ 2008 national title.

9. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama: Even though he’s had just one great season, what a season it was. Ingram became Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 2009. One of the best after-contact runners you’ll ever see, he rushed for 1,658 yards and scored 20 touchdowns in leading the Crimson Tide to a national title.

10. Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama: The centerpiece of Alabama’s national championship defense, McClain won the Butkus and Lambert awards in 2009 as the nation’s top linebacker. A three-year starter, he’s been called one of the smartest players Nick Saban has ever coached.

PASADENA, Calif. – Even Nick Saban’s Gatorade shower wasn’t exactly textbook.

The players soaked more of Saban’s shirt than they did his head.

“I wish they’d do the water,” Saban said. “You know, the Gatorade is awfully sticky.”

But, hey, he wasn’t complaining. Not on this night.

In only his third season at Alabama, he’s guided the Crimson Tide back to national championship prominence, and in doing so, becomes the only coach in the AP poll era (since 1936) to win national championships at two different schools.

Saban revels in talking about the process. Well, the process for this team and for this season was all about getting it done – no matter what it looked like, how close it was or how unorthodox it was.

Alabama’s 37-21 victory over Texas on Thursday at the Rose Bowl won’t go down as a classic. The Crimson Tide knocked quarterback Colt McCoy out of the game, built a big lead at the half and still had to sweat it out in the fourth quarter.

“The thing about this team is that when a guy has a play to make and everybody else does his job, that guy always makes that play,” Alabama senior cornerback Javier Arenas said. “That’s the way it’s been all year.”

Indeed it has.

The play that sealed it Thursday night was Eryk Anders’ perfectly called and perfectly executed blitz off the edge. Texas backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert never saw him coming and coughed up the ball. Courtney Upshaw recovered at the Texas 3 with 3:02 to play, and Alabama finally put the game away.

“I didn’t think about anything but hitting him and didn’t know he fumbled until I looked up and saw Courtney Upshaw jumped on the ball,” Anders said.

At last, the Crimson Tide could exhale.

They couldn’t have started the game any worse, thanks to a couple of special teams gaffes. And then in the third quarter, they sort of fell asleep at the wheel and allowed Texas to climb back into the game.

“That’s who we are. We bend, but don’t break,” Alabama sophomore center William Vlachos said. “Our defense did a tremendous job. They made the plays when they had to make them, and we were able to run the ball when we had to. It all came together for us.

“We had a goal going into the year. Championship teams are defined by how they finish and what they accomplish.”

Junior linebacker Rolando McClain played through a nasty virus that had knocked him for a loop all week. He had two IV's before the game and one at halftime.

"I just want to go home and take another shower and go to sleep," McClain said. "That’s how weak and tired I am right now. But my team needed me. They needed me to be a leader, and I couldn’t let them see that I was sick. I couldn’t let them see that I wasn’t 100 percent. For them, I’d do anything."

And while the Alabama players expressed genuine remorse that McCoy missed almost the entire game, they weren’t buying for a second that their national championship was somehow tarnished.

Not after everything this program has been through the past few years.

“I don’t write the script. I just play it out,” said Alabama junior quarterback Greg McElroy, who was held to 58 yards passing, the lowest output in BCS National Championship Game history.

“It’s unfortunate for them, and I feel terrible for Colt. But when it comes down to it, that’s how things go sometimes. We lost one of our best players early in the season in Dont’a Hightower to a torn ACL. Sometimes terrible things happen in this game.

“But on my ring, it’s not going to say, ‘Beat Texas without Colt.’ It’s going to say, ‘National champions.’ ”

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Here are three keys for Texas if it hopes to pull its second upset at the Rose Bowl in four seasons and earn another Bowl Championship Series national title.

1. Producing yards on first down: The Longhorns have a better chance of achieving offensive success if they produce early in a series. Second-and-long and third-and-long will make the Crimson Tide’s defense much more difficult to crack. If Colt McCoy can make things happen on first down – particularly early in the game – it should boost the Longhorns' confidence and their chances at an unexpected victory.

2. Dominate special teams: The Longhorns had one of the nation’s most proficient special teams units all season. Alabama has struggled in kick coverages, ranking 116th nationally with an average of 25.7 yards per kick return, and have been blistered with two returns for touchdowns. With the likely return of D.J. Monroe to the kick return rotation, the Longhorns will add the No. 2 kick returner in the nation. Marquise Goodwin was strong while Monroe was suspended, and Jordan Shipley is a threat to score a touchdown every time he returns a punt. The Longhorns need to make several big plays in this phase of the game.

3. Protect Colt McCoy: The Longhorns have allowed 30 sacks this season, and nearly half came in tight victories over Oklahoma (four) and Nebraska (nine). If the Longhorns have hopes of claiming the national title, they must give McCoy enough time to pass and keep fearsome Alabama pass rushers like Marcell Dareus, Eryk Anders, Javier Arenas and Rolando McClain away from their senior quarterback. And it would be a good time for the center of Texas’ offense – guards Michael Huey and Charlie Tanner and center Chris Hall -- to keep massive defensive tackle Terrence Cody away from McCoy.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Alabama coach Nick Saban said Wednesday he expects junior linebacker Rolando McClain to be able to play Thursday night against Texas in the Citi BCS National Championship Game.

McClain, this year's Butkus Award winner and the centerpiece of the Crimson Tide’s defense, did very little in practice Tuesday because of a stomach virus. He also missed Tuesday’s media day session.

McClain is expected to go through the team’s walk-through at the Rose Bowl later today, and according to Saban, is improving.

The reality is that there's no way McClain would miss this game, not with a stomach virus. He nearly broke his hand last season in a game and kept playing. He's as tough as they come.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -– Rolando McClain, Alabama’s Butkus Award-winning linebacker, still remembers the first time he laid eyes on Terrence Cody.

Cody, well over 400 pounds at the time, was visiting from junior college during a practice.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart walked up to McClain, pointed to the massive Cody and said, “You want to be an NFL linebacker? You better go talk to that guy.”

The legend of Mount Cody was soon born.

Cody didn’t need a lot of convincing. He was sold on the Crimson Tide and sold on his role in Nick Saban’s defense.

He was also sold on doing whatever it took to take advantage of what he called an opportunity of a lifetime.

Nobody really recruited him out of high school. He didn’t have the grades and didn’t even play as a sophomore or junior in Fort Myers, Fla. But he also needed to get into better shape if he was going to have any chance to play in the SEC.

“I wake up every morning and pinch myself and wonder if this is real,” said Cody, a two-time All-American. “I’ve come a long ways from high school, playing my freshman year and then having to sit out my sophomore and junior years for grades, and then having to go to junior college for two years and then come here.

“It’s been difficult. But I wouldn’t say it’s been bad for me. It was actually a blessing. What if I didn’t go to junior college? I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Upon arriving at Alabama Cody and strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran became inseparable, and 6 a.m. conditioning workouts became the norm.

Cochran said the 6-5 Cody was just under 420 pounds when he got him and is now right around 355. He’s done that with hard work, by changing his eating habits, and maintaining a workout regimen that Cochran laid out.

“To see him run, you would not have believed his weight,” Cochran recounted. “It’s amazing how quick his feet are, how long he's able to go. He’s very impressive, and when you see that at 410 pounds, you’re like, ‘You know much better you would run at 360? How much better at 350?’ ”

At times, it was a frustrating process for Cody. But Cochran never saw any signs of quit in him.

“He’s not that type of person,” Cochran said. “Coach Saban laid it to him from the beginning, this is how the plan works, how the process works, and he bought it right away. He felt like, ‘Hey, they’re doing this for me. They’re more interested in me than I’ve ever been in myself,’ because he’d never realized how important it was to lose the weight.”

Even now, Cody might look at Cochran and tell him he needs some extra cardio work that week if he feels heavier or doesn’t feel as fast.

“He tells me where he is now, because he knows,” Cochran said.

Unlike Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, Cody hasn’t been one of those interior guys who racks up big numbers. In fact, he only has 25 tackles on the season, including six for loss. He doesn’t have a sack this season, primarily because he’s not on the field much during passing situations.

But his presence in the middle has made everybody around him better. He swallows up blockers and allows McClain and the rest of the linebackers to run free.

And with Cody in there, very few teams have been able to run up the middle on the Crimson Tide the last two years.

“He’s like having a one-man wall in there in the middle,” said Texas center Chris Hall, who gets the luxury of going up against Cody.

As intimidating as he is, Cody is also one of those guys who keeps things pretty loose.

He’s been a hit with the media this week in California, even cracking short jokes about Saban, and remains one of the most popular players on Alabama’s team.

When he goes out anywhere, he attracts crowd. He’s used to it, though. It’s the same way on the football field.

“I don’t care if they put three guys on me,” Cody said. “I don’t care about tackles, and I don’t care about numbers. I care about winning games, and we’ve got one more to win.”

1. The tenor of the questions asked of the Texas offense at the news conference on Sunday continued to poke at the Longhorns. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis and the players heard about the lack of a consistent running game and about the line’s inability to block Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska. Texas keeps saying that it doesn’t need negative motivation when it is playing for the national championship. But no competitor likes to be challenged.

2. Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said that playing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in the last game has helped the Crimson Tide prepare for Colt McCoy of Texas. "Our D-line did a great job of containing him, not letting him run and make plays with his feet too often," McClain said. "I think he had one long scramble. Other than that, he was in the pocket all day." Two differences: linebacker Cory Reamer thinks McCoy is faster than Tebow and more dangerous when throwing on the run.

3. McCoy when asked about the adoration he feels when he returns to his hometown of Tuscola, Texas: “Well, I think all 700 people probably have an autograph at this point.” Because of McCoy’s down-home personality and his four years as a starter, the Longhorn fans’ attachment to him appears more personal than their adoration of Vince Young.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- The Alabama defenders have done their best to downplay all the pressure Nebraska got on Colt McCoy a month ago.

The Huskers sacked McCoy nine times, 4 .5 of those by star tackle Ndamukong Suh, and kept the Texas quarterback on the run the entire Big 12 championship game.

Yes, the Crimson Tide have seen that film. Yes, they see their own opportunities to get after McCoy. No, they’re not really making a big deal of it publicly.

“They’re a very good offensive line,” Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said. “Colt McCoy wouldn’t have the passing yards he has if he didn’t have anybody to block for him. Suh just had a career game. He was just unblockable. We’re going to try and do some of those same things and cause pressure. But you can’t take anything away from their offensive line.”

Still, don’t think for a second that Alabama hasn’t studied that tape in great detail to see what Nebraska did so effectively.

“They got a lot of pressure up the middle. That’s pretty much what we saw,” Alabama nose guard Terrence Cody said.

The Crimson Tide are also coming off a game against Florida in the SEC championship game where they were facing a mobile quarterback, and they were able to keep Tim Tebow in the pocket most of the game.

“It helps, because our D-line did a great job containing him and not letting him get out and run and make plays with his feet often,” McClain said. “I think he had one scramble. Other than that, he was in the pocket all day. So we have confidence in our secondary coverage. We just have to do a good job of containing [McCoy] and getting to him when we do blitz.”

Texas center Chris Hall, who had a rough outing against Suh, gets a chance to redeem himself against Cody.

“They are different players,” Hall said. “But as far as quality is concerned, they’re on the same level. They’re both great football players.”

Cody, who most of the time isn’t on the field in obvious passing situations, figures he’ll have enough chances to make his own impression.

“[Suh] had a good game,” Cody said. “I’m going to try and have, maybe not the same exact game, but something close to that.”

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- While Alabama junior linebacker Rolando McClain isn’t making any predictions on the game Thursday night, he does believe the Crimson Tide will tackle much better than they did a year ago against Utah in the Sugar Bowl.

The long layoff wreaked havoc with Alabama last season, but McClain said the practices have been significantly more physical this time around as the Crimson Tide prepare for the Citi BCS National Championship Game against Texas.

In a lot of ways, it’s reminded McClain of preseason camp, and he said that’s a good thing.

“We didn’t tackle very well at all last year, so we went back to camp practice where we did inside run (drills) and everything you’d do in camp,” McClain said. “We did a little bit of it last year, but I know we didn’t do as much as we did this year. It was a lot tougher.”

Initially, McClain was concerned when Alabama returned to practice back in December following the SEC championship game win over Florida.

“When we first came back, I was like, ‘Man, this isn’t the same football team,’ ” McClain recounted. “We weren’t in football mode. You could tell. But with coach (Nick) Saban, it’s not that hard to get back into that mode. Either you’re going to get back into it, or you won’t be playing. I think we’re all right now. We had a lot of tough practices.”

Alabama heads into its matchup with Texas ranked second nationally in scoring defense and total defense. In seven of their last eight games, the Crimson Tide allowed 15 or fewer points.

Even for McClain, who’s not easily impressed, watching this defense grow has been a treat.

“This defense is scary when everybody’s on the same page,” McClain said. “We all know what we’ve got to do, and we’re all doing it fast. That’s the scary part, when you have 11 crazy guys out there trying to make plays.”