Alabama football tracks the number of penalties it makes in practice. Afterward, head coach Nick Saban reads the names of players who committed more than one off a list.

Will it help the Tide fix a 2022 issue? Well, that’s to be determined.

“We’ll see if it works,” ” Saban said of the adjustments Wednesday night, his last media availability before Week 1 kicks off. “But, heaven knows that’s something that we have paid great attention to. Sometimes you wonder if you pay so much attention to something — is that really helping or hurting it? I don’t know. If you tell somebody that they’re not very tough, they start thinking they’re not very tough. So, hopefully, we’re not telling anybody that — and we’re telling everybody they’re going to be disciplined enough to not get penalties.”

Last fall, there was too much laundry on the field. The Crimson Tide were flagged for 103 penalties, a staggering 7.9 per game, setting a couple of records for a Saban-led program in the process. The former was the fourth-worst mark in the country and second-worst in the Southeastern Conference behind Tennessee.

In the final days of prep before facing Middle Tennessee, Saban said there isn’t much time left for anything but “mental practice.” That means preventing false starts, offsides or illegal-formation penalties. UA committed six fouls in its opener against Utah State a year ago, one of the few drawbacks in an otherwise clean 55-0 blowout.

“I mean, you could ask any team in the country, ‘Do you wanna be No. 1?’ and everybody would raise their hand,” Saban said. “But are you willing to do all the things you need to do accomplish that, get out of your comfort zone, be accountable, have the discipline to do things day in and day out, play in and play out that will make you be able to accomplish and do things at a high level?

“Being able to execute, have confidence, not make mental errors and everybody be accountable to each other and create great team chemistry, which will be a real starting point of trying to create the kind of identity that we’d like to create.”

When defensive coordinator Kevin Steele addressed the media in August, he said that most people learn when something correctable is “in front of you continuously.” No. 4 Alabama will see if the emphasis placed on penalties turns into positive results on Saturday night.

Senior defensive back Malachi Moore revealed a few weeks ago that defensive players have to do 10 up-downs for each infraction, and their position group has to do 10 apiece should players commit another.

For a UA team looking to reassert its dominance, especially on the road, limiting the amount of free yards it concedes can be the difference in a trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].