After Alabama’s game against the Texas A&M Aggies, the freshmen on the team experienced something they’d never seen before at the Capstone: a loss.

For Alabama head coach Nick Saban, it was imperative for his team that his older players, as well as the younger ones, were able to handle the loss appropriately and put in a good week of practice for Western Carolina.

Saban said so far this week, his team hasn’t had a problem with it and has been putting the right mental and physical energy into practice.

“It’s about how everybody responds to looking forward,” Saban said. “I think players have certainly responded. They practiced well yesterday, actually did a good job today.”

Senior tight end Michael Williams shared the sentiments of his coach. He said this week was one of the most energetic weeks of practice he’d seen so far this season.

Williams also said this week could provide some challenges to younger players who’d never experienced a loss and said it was the responsibility of the older players to make sure they went into practice with a good attitude.

“Kind of more of a challenge to our leadership to come out and have team practice when you have a lot of young players who haven’t experienced a loss before,” Williams said. “We took it upon ourselves to come out, practice with high energy, and right now we’ve got three good days in.”

Players share mixed feelings about early start

Another interesting factor that could play into Alabama’s game Saturday against the Catamounts is the early starting time. With kickoff set for 11:21 a.m., it will mark the earliest game start for the Tide since last year’s season opener against Kent State.

Saban said he thought the early start wouldn’t have too much of an effect on his team, though it may change its pre-game schedule some, such as moving a church service from before the pre-game meal at 7:30 a.m. back to Friday night.

“It’s a little different circumstance than what they’re used to, but maturity goes a long way in terms of how people adjust to their circumstances, and hopefully our team will show the maturity we need to play,” Saban said.

Senior defensive lineman Quinton Dial said he didn’t know how the early start, the earliest he’s ever had for a game, would affect him on the field.

“I don’t know man, it’s my first one at 11,” Dial said. “11 o’clock, rolling out of bed and playing.”

Despite this being the earliest game he’s played in, Williams said he didn’t expect too much of a difference in his own pre-game schedule, other than an earlier wake-up call. Williams said he liked the idea of getting in and out of a game earlier in the day.

“You got to wake up; you get ready to play and you go into the game, and once you hit the stadium, anything about you being sleepy changes right there,” Williams said. “Me personally, I like it. You get to get up, play hard, get out.”