#2 Alabama prepares for undefeated Kentucky

The University of Alabama football team began preparations for Saturday’s game with Kentucky on Monday afternoon with a two-hour practice.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban talked about another challenging Southeastern Conference game on Saturday against another undefeated team that ranks first nationally in scoring defense and kickoff returns.

“They are maybe the best defensive team in the country,” Saban at his weekly press conference on Monday. “They are certainly first in scoring defense. They have a lot of guys back from last year’s team. They are physical, they play with toughness, and they make good sound adjustments in what they do. Obviously giving up five points a game they are hard to score on which makes you a good defensive team.

“Offensively they have done a nice job controlling the ball. Their new quarterback, (Mike) Hartline has done a good job of managing the offense, keeping them in the right place and have them doing the right things. Their offensive line is good. They have been able to run the ball effectively against everybody they have played against. They have shown the capabilities of beating good teams in beating LSU when they were No. 1 last year.

“They are very good on special teams. (Dicky) Lyons is a good punt returner and is their leading receiver and they lead the conference in kickoff returns. This is going to be a challenging game for us. It is no different than the game we just played relative to maintaining intensity in terms of your mental energy, not only in how you play the game but how you prepare to play the game and get ready to play the game.”

Alabama and Kentucky will meet this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports.

The Crimson Tide are one of four SEC teams to practice on GameDay Grass from AstroTurf in their indoor facilities. The Tide installed AstroTurf in 2002 at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, giving them a state-of-the-art playing surface available anytime, regardless of weather.

After a recent practice on the AstroTurf surface, Alabama QB John Parker Wilson said "I thought we had a pretty good practice, the energy was good and I think practicing inside was a plus to change it up a little bit,"