Alabama football will head to College Station, Tx. on Saturday to try and earn a second straight SEC road win against Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide won against the Aggies last season in Tuscaloosa, but lost in 2021 on the road.

The Tide are entering the game off a win Saturday at Mississippi State, which moved UA to 4-1 on the season, 2-0 in SEC play. TAMU is also undefeated in conference play, with its lone loss on the year coming against Miami.

Ahead of the game, Nick Saban spoke with media for his weekly Wednesday press conference. Here are the highlights from what he said.

— Saban says he’s been pleased with how his players have been working throughout the week. Says he has challenged them to prioritize helping the team win. Says they need to have mental toughness so they don’t back down. Says Texas A&M is a tough team and the environment will be tough.

— Saban says Amari Niblack has been a great receiver and is improving as a blocker.

— Saban said he hadn’t heard about the NCAA changing transfer portal windows from 60 to 45 days. Says he’s sure the NCAA had a good reason for it but he shouldn’t comment since he wasn’t informed.

— Says Thursday is when Alabama will practice with noise. Says that will be important before heading to College Station, says he hopes the snap count issues won’t show up again.

— Saban praises TAMU QB Max Johnson. Says he’s a good player and the Aggie offense does a good job with him.

— Says he can see Bobby Petrino’s influence on the offense. Says you can still see Jimbo Fisher’s tendencies as well. Says it’s all very effective.

— Saban says Alabama has to do better job protecting QB against good pass rush. Says it’s also important for quarterback to get the ball out of his hand, and the receivers getting open

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