Alabama Football: 10 Keys to Ruling the SEC Again and Perhaps the Nation

While any one of these has its own importance, these, in no particular order, are 10 things that could help Alabama be kings once again, both in the SEC and perhaps the nation.

1. Finish - Alabama has gotten in the bad habit of not finishing teams off. Best example, last year's Auburn game.

How to fix it?

Play like they did against Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl Game would be the best example of how to do things right.

2. Keep the Penalties Low - Alabama's offensive line was one of the best in terms of drawing the fewest holding calls. They need to keep that up.

But they seem to have dumb holding calls on too many punt and kickoff returns. If they can solve this problem, that will really help.

3. A Great Schedule - Only the away game at Auburn and Mississippi State may prove to be tough away games, and the Tide has LSU in Tuscaloosa this year.

4. A.J. McCarron Playing Up to Expectations - For the Tide to roll on offense this season, A.J. McCarron is going to have to live up to expectations. With a strong running game, he won't have to win games by himself and he could come up to speed in his own time.

For an exclusive interview with video on A.J.'s confidence level, click HERE.

5. Finding a Receiver to Replace Julio Jones - Julio was that go-to guy who could turn a three-yard pass into a seven-yard gain for those critical 3rd-and-long type plays. While Hanks and Maze are still there and legitimate deep threats, who will step up to be "tough yard" receiver?

Finding or developing one of these is a critical mission for new receivers coach Mike Groh.

6. Stop the Run - Remember when teams passed against Alabama on first down to keep from winding up in 2nd- or 3rd-and-long plays? Nick Saban does and he intends on having a nose tackle this year that can dominate the middle the same way Mt. Cody did.

Will the "Awesome Aussie" Jesse Williams be that run stopper in the middle that Cody was? Most think so.

Starting the year with Dont'a Hightower back at the Will linebacker spot should help accomplish this as well.

7. Stop the Dumb Blown Coverages in the Defensive Secondary - Every one of the three losses can be traced back to a blown play by the defensive secondary.

Did the youth from last year finally grow up? Will Robby Green's return help solve some problems? Can Robert Lester keep up his late-season pick-off pace? This could be the biggest goal to accomplish.

8. Get a Little Luck - You don't win a championship without a little luck going your way. Alabama had the fortunate blocks and bounces two years ago and didn't last year.

Are they due now? If so, then this could be a big key.

9. No more fumbles - The year that Alabama won the last national championship, fumbles were very rare. Last year, a very rare Mark Ingram fumble could have cost them the game against Auburn.

Last year, the man slated to be Trent Richardson's running mate, Eddie Lacy, had some fumbles that cost him valuable playing time as that's a quick route to the Saban dog house.

10. Drive - Players I interviewed this year are talking about having the same "drive" that they had two years ago. Even Saban said that perhaps last year's team just expected to win rather than prepare like they were supposed to do.

Did last year's record embarrass them? Are they hungry once again?

Time will tell and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)