Nick Saban previews the Alabama-Tennessee game on 'The Nation'

Alabama head coach Nick Saban kicked off Tennessee week by joining ESPN’s Chris Low and Volquest’s Austin Price on ‘The Nation’ on 99.1-FM WNML in Knoxville Sunday night, previewing his 11th-ranked Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) hosting the 17th-ranked Vols (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa:

Alabama winning games but not playing as clean as he wants his team to play 

“I think the big thing is we play pretty well at times, but the whole thing is about maintaining intensity and being able to stay focused on what you’ve gotta do to have success in the game. And we haven’t been able to do that like we want to. So we want to build on the positive things that we’ve been able to do when we do have that intensity and make the players aware of how important it is to maintain that throughout a game so that they play for 60 minutes in the game.”

What he knew about the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry before he was hired at Alabama

“I think it means a lot to me because it means a lot to a lot of people. It means a lot to a lot of people on our side. It probably means a lot to a lot of people on their side. So it’s a big game. It’s an important game. They got a really good team and we’re trying to get our guys to play with a little more consistency, but I know what this game means to a lot of Alabama folks.”

What he’s seen from Tennessee and what will be the keys for Alabama on Saturday against the Vols

“I think they’re really running the ball well. But then they’ve always had the capability of making explosive plays, which is really what killed us in the game last year. They made a bunch of explosive plays. So I think the key is you can’t turn the ball over and give them easy opportunities and help them when you have the ball. But you gotta try to be able to stop the run and do it in a way that you’re not compromising yourself, where you’re giving up explosive plays, which they do a really good job of. And their tempo is something that you gotta be able to match with the defensive players so that you can get lined up and not make mental errors.”

Where Alabama has grown the most since the home loss to Texas on September 9

“I’d say resiliency. These guys have shown a tremendous ability to be resilient in games, even though we’ve created a lot of issues for ourselves in some ways at times, but we’ve always shown an ability to overcome it. Even in the last game we kept the ball for the last five minutes of the game and never gave them another opportunity. And we played really well in the first half, so there’s a lot of good things, but I think resiliency has been the thing that we’ve sort of developed as the season has progressed.”

Tennessee’s improved play on the defensive line and the job defensive line coach Rodney Garner has done

“He is just a good coach, man. He’s done a good job. He gets good players and does a good job of developing them. They play hard, they play good technique. They’re very aggressive upfront. So, no surprise really, having played against him for many, many years. That’s the way his guys always play.”

The balance in the SEC this season

“It’s always been a good league from top to bottom. I think that’s what has always separated. This league, there’s only six, seven, eight good teams, but I don’t disagree that just about everybody in the league could beat anybody on any given Saturday. So it is probably as good from top to bottom as it’s ever been.”

Where Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe has grown throughout the course of the season

“I think he’s done a tremendous job of being able to stay focused and play the next play and not be affected by plays before. And sort of developing confidence in himself that even if he has a bad play, he can bounce back and do play well the next play. And I think the players around him see that and feel that too. So that’s always a good thing. But we still gotta keep growing offensively run and pass and eliminate the negative plays. We make enough positive plays in the game. It’s the negative plays, the sacks, the penalties, the things like that that we gotta do a better job of. So we don’t put ourselves behind the eight ball and have so many drive stoppers.”