... would have a successful year, though they were picked to finish by many as low as third in the SEC West behind both Ole Miss and LSU.

Why would last year's champions from the West get no respect to repeat? Time and again you heard the phrase, "they're going to need a few years to rebuild the offensive line."

Only Mike Johnson and Drew Davis were coming back from a line considered to be the strength of the Alabama team last year. There were just too many holes to fill and not enough good experienced people to fill them.

They were left playing with an undersized center that many scoffed at ever becoming a starter in the SEC, a raw junior college left tackle transfer, James Carpenter, that didn't seem to have the footwork nec...

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