The big talk in the Alabama camp Tuesday concerned the suspension of offensive tackle and Outland Trophy winner Andre Smith for apparently dealing with an agent.

While a lot of Crimson Tide fans were mad at Smith, the Alabama players were mostly disappointed.

"We were down about it," said defensive end Bobby Greenwood. "The best thing about this year is that we've got a lot of depth on the offensive line. It's hard, but guys like Mike Johnson have stepped up for us."

"Andre and I were together all summer," said defensive lineman Terrence Cody. "We got to know each other real well. It really hurt me when I heard the news that he was suspended. I put my head down. I was sad, upset."

Others tried to shrug it off.

"We just went on with our business," said linebacker Rolando McClain. "With coach Saban, we didn't get off track, really. We understand what happened, but we have something to do."

"Our hearts go out to him, and we are going to help him in any way," said defensive back Rashad Johnson. "But we're here to focus on winning. We know what our main goal is, and that's to go out and win the game Friday."

ALABAMA WHO?: Alabama defensive back Javier Arenas grew up in Tampa, Fla., but he didn't know much about Alabama football before being recruited.

"I grew up around Florida, Florida State and Miami. I'd never heard of Alabama until they came recruiting," he said. "When coach came down, I said, 'Alabama? That's a Division II school isn't it?"'

Arenas soon found out about the Crimson Tide tradition.

"I started doing my research. Now I'm on the level with the people who have lived in Alabama all their lives as far as knowledge of Alabama, the commitment and the love for the school."

RESPECTING UTAH: The Alabama defensive players and coaches took the interview stage Tuesday and for the most part said they had plenty of respect for the Utes.

"They present a lot of challenges offensively," said Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. "They do a great job, and they do it in all the personnel groups so you don't really know when it's coming. They do a great job of mixing it up."

"They're making us dig deep into our scheme because they present so much," said Arenas. "We have to be prepared for each and every thing."

The one player who didn't act overly impressed was Cody, Alabama's massive 365-pound noseguard.

"They pretty much do the same thing other teams have been doing against us this year," Cody said. "It's not different, nothing special. They like to run certain offenses like the other ones we played against during the season."

BY THE NUMBERS: Of the 96 players on Alabama's Sugar Bowl roster, 50 — a little more than half — hail from Alabama.

Most of the rest of the players are from SEC country, with 12 players from Florida, 11 from Georgia, seven from Tennessee and six from Mississippi.

There are no Utah players on the roster — in fact, the only player from the West is junior linebacker Prince Hall, from Moreno Valley, Calif.

---

E-mail: sor@desnews.com