For Alabama head coach Nick Saban, each week is the same as the last. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the game, or the talent level of the opposition, only one thing matters: the way his own team plays.

Saban’s philosophy seems to have latched onto his players, as well. Saban said he’s been pleased with the way his team has handled the hype of the game, which features a battle of unbeaten SEC teams on Alabama’s Homecoming weekend.

“This has been a really good, hard work week for us,” Saban said. “I’ve been real pleased with the way we’ve gone about what we need to do.”

Improving his team is the only thing Saban was focused on during practice this week. Saban said even with the prospect of playing a much-improved Bulldogs team, the only thing he worried about was what his players could do to improve.

“We think we’ll get their very best game, no doubt,” Saban said. “But, saying all that, what’s that got to do with how we play? We should be trying to play the best that we can play because of what we have at stake.”

Senior center Barrett Jones echoed his coach’s thoughts on the game and the preparation of his team each week of the season. Jones said as he has listened to Saban’s philosophy over the years, it has made more and more sense to him.

“I don’t want to say it doesn’t matter, but it doesn’t matter as much about what the other teams do,” Jones said. “It’s more about you. As good as the other team is, every time we’ve lost a game around here, it’s not because they just did amazing things, it’s because we didn’t execute.”

Saban praises 2012 freshman class

As the season progresses for Alabama, it is becoming more and more apparent that the 2012 freshman class is making an impact for the Crimson Tide.

Two freshmen in particular, wide receiver Amari Cooper and running back T.J. Yeldon, have made heavy contributions to the team. Cooper leads the team with 425 receiving yards and five touchdowns, while Yeldon is second on the team in rushing, with 565 yards and six touchdowns.

Other freshmen contributors on the team include Landon Collins, Kenyan Drake and Cyrus Jones.

Still, for Saban, having such a talented freshman team is a necessity, as his team will have a large exiting senior class after the season. Regardless, Saban said he was pleased with the number of freshman contributors to his team.

“This is probably the most guys that we’ve had,” Saban said. “We think there’s a lot of good players; there’s a lot of good players that aren’t playing. … I’m really pleased with this group.”

Senior guard Chance Warmack said he was also impressed with the way the freshmen have played, not just because of their ability, but their maturity as well.

“They carry themselves very maturely,” Warmack said. “They don’t really carry themselves like freshmen, they carry themselves like they’ve been on the team for a minute.

“So we look at them, see how they’ve grown over the past few months that they’ve been here, and they’ve done a tremendous job.”