Crimson Tide welcomes early test from Hokies

By Mark Berman

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.

Like many Alabama football fans, Mike Coleman is excited about the season opener against Virginia Tech.

But worried?

Not so much.

"Bama, they're going to win big over them," Coleman, an Alabama graduate and Tuscaloosa resident, said Sunday as he watched practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium. "It's SEC teams I get worried about. Any Southeastern team is tough.

"ACC, they're a little soft."

The Georgia Dome clash between the Crimson Tide and the Hokies on Sept. 5 promises to be a stern test for both teams, though. Alabama is ranked fifth in the USA Today preseason coaches' poll, while Tech is ranked seventh.

"People are excited about the opportunity to play another top team like ourselves," Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy said before practice at the team's media-day session. "It's good for us to play a top contender as opposed to playing kind of a pushover game at that stage of the season."

Last year, Alabama opened with a 34-10 rout of then-No. 9 Clemson at the Georgia Dome, exposing the Tigers as an overrated team.

"Virginia Tech's going to be completely different than what Clemson brought to the table. Virginia Tech is very tough," said McElroy, a junior who will make his first career start against the Hokies. "It's a completely different animal for us.

"It's something that we're looking forward to. We like to be tested."

Terrence Cody doesn't sound like he is taking the Hokies lightly, either.

"I watched them last year" on TV, said Cody, an All-American nose guard. "They [were] a real tough team, real physical. They kind of play just like us. We're physical and we're tough."

The win over Clemson does offer Cody a formula for success in this game, though.

"We've got to have good tempo in practice right off the bat because of how we played [Clemson] last year," Cody said. "We came out with real good tempo and real intensity. That's how we've got to prepare... for this game."

Not that "Beat Virginia Tech" has become the team motto just yet.

"It's a very good football team," cornerback Javier Arenas said. "We're going to play Alabama football, and they're going to play Virginia Tech football.

"Virginia Tech, right?"

Right, Javier. Virginia Tech.

Arenas might not have studied up on the first foe, but coach Nick Saban sure has.

"Virginia Tech will have an outstanding team, and one thing that will be a challenge is that we've got to match their toughness," Saban said. "They're a tough team. They play physical football. They are very aggressive.

"They're a good defensive team. They're always really good on special teams.... They probably have better guys on offense skill-wise than most teams."

While Alabama boasts a stellar defense that includes eight returning starters, only four starters are back on offense.

McElroy, who threw only 11 passes last year, takes over for Alabama career passing leader John Parker Wilson.

"Regardless of who you're opening with, you're always concerned about anybody who has to play in that game who doesn't have a lot of experience, and I would say that probably gets magnified a little bit with the quarterback position," Saban said. "Greg has done a very, very good job throughout not only this camp but also in the spring.

"We're just going to do everything we can to support him and help him grow and develop so he can manage it the best he can... in that particular game."

Sunday was not only media day at Alabama, but also "Fan Day." Thousands of fans sat in the stands to watch the team's only public practice of the preseason, while thousands more waited in line for up to six hours for the post-practice autograph session.

Alabama rose to No. 1 in the polls last year before suffering back-to-back losses to Florida and Utah to finish 12-2.

Despite the loss of so many offensive starters, expectations remain high at a program with 12 national championships.

"When you put on the uniform at the University of Alabama, there's a natural expectation and that's the way it should be," offensive coordinator Jim McElwain said. "That's the reason people should want to come here.

"Now the process of living up to that expectation - the work that it takes to get there - is what needs to be defined with our group of guys."