Nick Saban sees better Wednesday practice as Alabama focuses on physicality

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama head coach Nick Saban liked what he saw on the practice field Wednesday, which was an improvement from the Crimson Tide’s performance a day prior.

“The players were a little better today,” said Saban in his final press conference of Kentucky game week. “A little sluggish yesterday, but responded a lot better today. I think it’s important. It’s tough to play in our league on the road.”

Alabama (8-1, 6-0 SEC) will be playing its first game away from Bryant-Denny Stadium in more than a month when it takes on Kentucky (6-3, 3-3) on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Tide is currently a double-digit favorite, but Saban is expecting a more physical matchup in Lexington. Alabama’s preparation for that type of road game appears to have been better.

“You have to try to be the most physical team, which Kentucky kind of prides themselves in being,” Saban said. “And you have to have the right mindset and the right mental approach to be able to do that in terms of how you practice, how you prepare and what you do for your mindset when the game comes because you can’t just turn it on and turn it off.

“You can’t just say you’re going to be the most physical team. You have to be the most physical when the game comes. You have to have the right mental approach so you’re prepared, so you can execute and be the most disciplined team when the game comes. That’s what we’re really focusing on, and I think the players were a lot better today. 

“We’re making progress, and we want to continue to try and improve. But this is a challenging game the way these guys play on offense, defense. They have good players, so it’s going to be a test for us.”

The Wildcats enter the contest averaging 141.11 yards per game on the ground, which is good for eighth in the SEC, but Kentucky is even better in yards per carry (5.29, 3rd). The Cats are led by the league’s second-leading rusher, Ray Davis, who accounts for 100.33 yards per game and receives an average of 16.44 handoffs per outing, good for third in the SEC.

Alabama has been sound at stopping the run the season, allowing 119.56 yards per game (6th in the SEC), but is coming off a win against LSU where the Tigers rushed for 206 yards. After Wednesday’s practice, Saban was asked about UA’s success against the run but again pointed to the need to be the more physical team in Saturday’s Bluegrass State battle. 

“We’ll get tested this week because these guys will run it,” Saban said. “They’re bigger. They’ll be in bigger personnel situations. We may not have all of our defensive players ready to play, but we’ve got to get the guys that are ready to play to play physical on the line of scrimmage, strike blockers up front, have good hand placement, everybody fit their gap right and make adjustments to all their formations and motions so we’ve got edges where we need to have them. 

“So this is really a challenging game for us from that standpoint, so we’ll see how good we are against the run.”

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