No. 1 Alabama going for perfect 10 Saban opener vs. USC

In addition to the neutral-site opener with Alabama in Texas, they must visit Stanford, Utah, Washington and UCLA.

The reigning national champion Alabama Crimson Tide have the weapons to return to the college football playoff this season.

While USC is still a name brand across college football, the Trojans aren’t necessarily the team today’s middle schoolers pretend to be during pickup games at recess.

“This defense will be the fastest and most athletic Nick Saban has had in his 10 seasons”, Savage tweeted afterward. So it only makes sense the Crimson Tide, ranked No. 1 by both the Coaches Poll and the Associated Press, would start its season back in Arlington on Saturday.

Helfand: USC has spent an unusual amount of time this preseason running the first-team offense against the first-team defense. That includes beating MI in 2012 and Wisconsin last September in the stadium where they also won the CFP semifinal in the Cotton Bowl. “Obviously had 89 catches previous year, which I think was probably the best in their league. This is a business decision, but it’s also a program decision in the tremendous amount of exposure, when you play a quality opponent like USC”.

Browne was recruited out of the Seattle suburbs to USC by Lane Kiffin, whos now on the Alabama sideline as Nick Sabans offensive guru. At right, in an August 9, 2016, file photo, Alabama coach Nick Saban gestures during practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

“It was the lowest part of my career by far”, Kiffin said during his media availability in advance of the national title game.

The Trojans are looking for their first Pac-12 championship since 2008, a drought that is closing on a decade.

“What an unbelievable opportunity”.

Besides that 2011 season where they went 10-2 but were ineligible for a bowl, Kiffin failed big time as head coach at USC. So you have to come with intensity every day and prove why you deserve to play. “He does a very good job of game plans each week, so you know exactly what you’re going to be getting coverage-wise”. If Saban has picked a guy, he isn’t saying – just like the past two years when Blake Sims and then Jake Coker claimed the jobs through game performances. He too watched Bush dominate defenses, and he paid attention to former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and what he was able to do on the field. “It’s not about coach when we go to LSU”.

Crompton wouldn’t, hitting wide-open fullback Austin Johnson on a seam route out of the I-formation for a 38-yard pitch-and-catch touchdown after the Gamecocks unleashed a zero-coverage blitz on the Volunteers’ second offensive play. “All we can do is put our players in the best position to win”.

NEW BUT FAMILIAR: New Trojans head coach Clay Helton has been on their staff since 2010. Likewise, the Woodson comparison bears mention up front, because Woodson’s template is the only one belonging to defensive players pursuing the trophy.

The 41-year-old assistant followed Pete Carroll after he returned to the National Football League in 2010 and led the Trojans through the early seasons of NCAA sanctions.

PROLIFIC RECEIVERS: If the quarterbacks are unproven, their top targets are pretty obvious. USC’s Browne has JuJu Smith-Schuster, who flirted with 1,500 receiving yards and has impressed Saban all the way around.

Special teams coach John Baxter said Kiffin “sees the game in slow motion”. He called him “a Dez Bryant-type receiver”.

So while you look for USC quarterback Max Browne trying to scramble away from Alabama’s Jonathan Allen or Alabama’s Calvin Ridley trying to beat USC defensive back Adoree’ Jackson, the real show might be the immediate battle with mental pressure that both sides will tackle in trying to live up to their standards. This season also will see the Tide’s leading tackler (73) for a year ago, linebacker Reuben Foster, return as well as the team’s sack leader (12) and the most with tackles for loss (14.5) in defensive lineman Jonathan Allen.

OPENING STREAKS: The Crimson Tide’s streak of season-opening wins is even longer than Saban’s tenure. That’s the mentality we have to have, because the run game is going to get everything else going.