vs. Western Carolina

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The Crimson Tide look to kick off the Nick Saban era with a bang on Saturday against the Western Carolina Catamounts down in Tuscaloosa. The Tide are hoping for an instant rise in the win column this season with influence of the new head coach. Roll Tide.

The Bama defense has always been a strength and will continue to be that way for new head coach Nick Saban. The line actually may be the weakest link for this team, especially now that rising DT Brian Motley is out for a number of weeks with a knee injury. Senior Wallace Gilberry and Junior Bobby Greenwood will have to hold up on the ends for the defensive line to be effective this season. The linebacking unit for the Crimson Tide is also full of unknowns. The leader of the unit will be 5'11" 255-pound Sophomore Prince Hall. Hall is undersized, but had 77 tackles last season (good for third on the team) as well as 10.5 tackles for loss. No big name linebackers....not to worry. True Freshman Rolando McClain is an absolute beast in the making. He finished summer workouts at the #1 MLB spot and will be starting from day one. This guy is a monster. The defensive backfield for Bama could become superb, but needs some playmakers to step up immediately. Simeon Castille will be starting at one corner spot with Lionel Mitchell at the other. These two have nice size for the corner position at 6'1" and 6'2", respectively. Starting at free safety will be 6'0", 200-pound Junior Rashad Johnson who is a fearless hitter. Waiting in the wings will be Sophomore Justin Woodall who can play either safety spot at 6'1" and 213-pounds. Woodall had 6 tackles and 1 broken up pass last year as a true Freshman. If this unit gels, they could grow to be something special.

Who to watch:

Simeon Castille - the Senior cornerback will be a huge playmaker all season long and is also big and strong enough to get physical with opposing receivers.

WR's Matt Caddell and Nikita Stover - everybody knows about D.J. Hall and Keith Brown, but these two will have to step up in reserve roles and make key catches when the other two are covered up.

John Parker Wilson - the Junior QB is one of the more underrated in the nation throwing for 2,707 yards and 17 TD's last season. If he increases the yards and lowers his 10 interceptions by just a bit, the Tide should be playing in a pretty nice bowl game come December/January.

Freshman to watch:

Chris Lett - the true Freshman safety will have some work to do to get into the rotation, but he has the size and athleticism to do so. At 6'2"-191, the Freshman from Pensacola, FL will be a nightmare for most receivers.

For Western Carolina, it will just be a matter of not getting embarrassed by the overwhelming speed and athleticism of their SEC opponents. The Catamounts will have a slight ray of hope due to the earlier Appalachian State victory in Ann Arbor, however.

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