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AJ McCarron and His Importance To A 3rd Title

By Fred Perdue
April 10, 2013

In 2012, Alabama won its second straight BCS title and third in four years, jumping out to a 35-0
lead over Notre Dame and cruising to a 42-14 win.

Alabama was the first team to win back-to-back BCS National Championships and the first
team in the Poll era (since 1936) to win 10 national championships – AP or Coaches’ poll.

The Crimson Tide also joined Nebraska (1994-95, 1997) and Notre Dame (1946-47, 1949) as
the only teams in the Poll era to win three national championships in a four-year span.

Looking ahead to 2013
Alabama is chasing even more history this year, as the school is seeking to become the first
team in the Poll era to win three straight national championships. It would also be the first team
to win four titles in five years.

Alabama returns the core of its offensive skill players in 2013 – QB AJ McCarron, RB T.J.
Yeldon and WR Amari Cooper.

McCarron is an early Heisman candidate and is glad to have one of his favorite deep threats –
Cooper - back on the field. Last year McCarron was 13-for-18 with six touchdowns when
targeting Cooper on throws of at least 20 yards.

One of the keys to the Tide’s offense last year was a ground game that averaged 6.1 yards per
carry on designed running plays, the highest average in the SEC.

On these runs, the Tide averaged an SEC-best 4.1 yards before contact and made it at least
five yards past the line of scrimmage without being touched on 35 percent of their designed
runs.

Alabama will be challenged to repeat that success on the ground in 2013, needing to replace
three offensive line starters (Chance Warmack, Barrett Jones, and D.J. Fluker).

Despite the losses of several key players on both offense and defense, expectations are still
high in Tuscaloosa.

For the sixth straight year, Alabama pulled in a top-3 recruiting class according to ESPN’s
rankings. This is the second straight year in which Nick Saban has pulled in the top class in the
country, with 14 commits in the ESPN 150.

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