Alabama football didn’t look like a normal Nick Saban team Saturday in a 34-24 loss to Texas. According to offensive guard Tyler Booker, that stemmed from the week of practice entering the game.

“I feel we probably just took winning for granted like we did last year,” Booker said during his weekly appearance on The Next Round. “We beat Middle Tennessee and we just had to bring a different energy level and bring a different level of focus.”

According to Booker, the Crimson Tide didn’t get the energy and focus where it needed to be. That showed in the game, when Alabama struggled on offense and couldn’t stop Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Speaking to media on Tuesday, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry also said the Tide wasn’t operating at its highest level before the game.

“I feel like we could have been better in practice, preparing and working together as a defense,” McKinstry said. “Communicating on the back end, making sure everybody has the right adjustments. I feel like guys, even including me, can ask questions to coaches, ask questions to players, just to make sure that we better understand what we have going on.”

Nick Saban, speaking Monday, said he had no problem with the energy throughout the week leading up to the game. But by the fourth quarter, he said it had dissipated.

“I think the energy level was good,” Saban said. “I think we started out the game really good. Did we sustain it for 60 minutes in the game? No. Did we play well in the fourth quarter? No. But it’s not much about how you start, we started out, I felt, really well in the game: good energy, physical, ran the ball effectively in the beginning of the game. But our ability to sustain was not where it needs to be and we didn’t play well enough in the fourth quarter.”

Wherever the energy level was last week, all parties acknowledged the Crimson Tide have to be better going forward. This week, Alabama faces South Florida on the road before moving into its SEC schedule.

Saban said he fully expects that the needed improvements will be made.

“This is not just about (the) attitude of players,” Saban said Monday. “They all wanted to win more than any fan, more than anybody in this room — and they put all the work and preparation into it. I feel badly for them that we weren’t able to do whatever we need to do as coaches to try to help them have a better chance to be successful in the game. And we’re all responsible for it and we’re all going to try to work hard to get better. So, I would be shocked if these guys don’t come in here today with the attitude that we’re going to go out there and try to improve and get better. And the future is now. We’ve got to do it now — that’s the main thing.”

Alabama and South Florida are scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. in Tampa. The game will be aired on ABC.