Even with all of the years having a Vick at quarterback, the Virginia Tech Hokies have never started a season ranked as high as their number seven spot this year. They should savor the pre-season flavor, because all of that is likely to come to an end Saturday night in Atlanta, as Alabama returns to the Georgia Dome for opening night, a building where they dismantled the Georgia Bulldogs on opening weekend last season.

The Crimson Tide, ranked 5th in the country, come in with a massive chip in their shoulder for such a highly ranked team, a chip born from the humiliation of getting man-handled by Utah in the Sugar Bowl last year, hot on the heels of the Tide’s deflating loss to eventual national champion Florida in the SEC title game.

For a team that lost its quarterback, Alabama does not have too much to be terribly concerned about. After all, they won and lost games last year on the back of their third-ranked defense, a squad that returns eight starters and should be right back at the top of the rankings by season’s end.

Tech’s best chance of staying with Alabama is to pound the ball down their throats, but that gameplan took a hard hit last month when RB Darren Evans went down for the season with a torn ACL. Add to that the fact that starting FB Kenny Jefferson will miss the first game with a suspension, ad that leaves the rushing load to redshirt freshman Ryan Williams and sophomore Josh Oglesby.

The good news is the youngsters will receive stellar blocking up front from an offensive line that will be equally concerned with providing pass protection for QB Tyrod Taylor, who has been spotty at best in his first two seasons in Blacksburg. Taylor has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, while completing less than 60 percent of his passes. With no upper-classmen out wide to provide a sure thing when things get touch, the Hokies are going to need a quantum leap from Taylor to keep their lofty spot in the rankings.

Like the Tide, the Hokies will rely greatly on their defense. Alabama proved to have serious trouble putting up points last year, and that was with a senior quarterback. With QB Greg McElroy making his first start, the Tide will have to rely on a rebuilt offensive line and quarter of running backs to wear down a smaller Virginia Tech team. John Parker Wilson spent a lot of time on his back against Utah in that fateful Sugar Bowl defeat, and McElroy will need even more time to make decisions.

The Tide lost three starters from last year’s line and you can guaranteed Frank Beemer and his assistants have spent hours, if not weeks, thinking of how to prepare blitz packages to disturb the untested McElroy.

Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster lives for these kind of moments. His defenses have ranked in the top six in the nation six of the last eight years, and although he has been at Tech for over a decade now, a huge win against a team like Alabama, which would likely presage a massive season for the Hokies, could make Foster the sexiest coaching candidate in the land by year's end. Of course, Foster can get a bit too aggressive on defense, which will give young McElroy a chance to exploit  the secondary blitzes and cheats with quick strikes to Julio Jones, one of the best wide receivers in the nation.

 If McElroy limits turnovers and Alabama's massive, although somewhat untested, offensive line can win the battle in the trenches and the time of possession, the Tide should be right where they were at this time last season, atop the polls and hungry to prove they are for real.

It should be a very low scoring game, and Beemer's legendary special teams may actually turn the tide, so to speak. But it is just hard to see Nick Saban's Tide, coming off of last year's mortifying finish, not getting off to a strong start, especially playing down South at a neautral site where they've experienced success in the past.

Prediction: Alabama 16, Virginia Tech 14