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By Greg Lewis

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Tide comes rolling to the Rose Bowl with a No. 3 national ranking, and ambitions to match.

Alabama returns 18 starters, nine each on offense and defense, from a SEC championship squad that made it all the way to the Orange Bowl.

Each of Mike DuBose’s three years as Alabama head coach have seen a three-game improvement, from 4-7 to 7-5 to 10-3.

The trend, if continued, would result in a 13-0 record and a national title.

This is also the first year that Alabama has all of its scholarships since probation stemming from the Gene Stallings era. With more scholarships resulting in more depth, the Tide should be even stronger than last season.

“I’m excited that the expectation bar has been raised to a higher level ... where it should be every year – to the level of having a chance to win the national championship,” DuBose told Lindy’s Football magazine.

“It’s going to take some luck ... But we have enough talent to compete. Our biggest question is if we can play with the same oneness, the same singleness of purpose as we did last year,” he said.

Luck isn’t the only thing that will take the Tide back to an Alliance Bowl game. This is probably Alabama’s fastest team ever, especially on defense.

The Tide normally work out of a 4-3 defense, but Alabama is not afraid to change alignments to confuse the opposition. A year of experience for the entire defense undoubtedly will mean more blitzing.

Heady free safety Reggie Myles, playmaking linebacker Saleem Rasheed and quarterback-killer Kenny King lead the Alabama defense to the top of the SEC.

The recent injury of star defensive end Kindal Moorehead may take away a step or two, but should not make a huge difference for Alabama.

How UCLA handles the blitz will be the key factor in the game. Last year, the offensive line was decimated by injuries, but this year they feel they have something to prove.

“We didn’t have a good year and we’re the first to admit that,” center Troy Danoff said.

“We’ve got something to prove,” said tackle Mike Saffer.

If the Bruin offense is to get going, it needs to start with the line. The quarterbacks had virtually no time to throw last year, and there were few holes opened for running backs DeShaun Foster and Jermaine Lewis.

If the line is improved, a running game can be established, opening up the passing game for second year starting quarterback Cory Paus. The balance that UCLA’s offense needs to be successful starts with the offensive line.

On offense, Alabama will depart from the past three years, when they relied heavily on All-American running back Shaun Alexander.

Tide wide receiver Freddie Milons will now be the focus of the offense. Last year Alexander had 24 touchdowns, and Millons has to make up a lot of that scoring this year if Alabama is going to be successful again.

Andrew Zow gained the starting nod over Tyler Watts in the off-season quarterback battle, but the real effectiveness comes from Alabama’s offensive line. Center Paul Hogan is the leader of a group that lost another All-American in Chris Samuels, but is still very experienced.

How the Bruins can win: Pay no attention to first-game jitters, shut down Milons, and hope DeShaun Foster has a big day.

How Alabama can win: keep the pressure on UCLA sophomore quarterback Paus and build an early lead to force UCLA into a passing game.