Alabama coach Nick Saban said his Crimson Tide football team is showing the right effort and intensity in practice, but it’s time to flip the switch and start finishing plays like they would in a game.

“We haven’t played a game in a long time,” Saban said. “We’ve got to get out of practice mode and make sure we’re practicing to develop the habits that are gonna become a part of our DNA as competitors in terms of how we play in a game.”

Alabama opens the season on the road against Missouri at 6 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Nick Saban: Crimson Tide focuses on finishing as season kickoff approaches from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he is happy game week has finally arrived, even though he knows his Auburn Tigers football team will be tested by the visiting Kentucky Wildcats.

“It’s been a long time coming to get to this point,” Malzahn said. “We’re playing a really good Kentucky Wildcat team. When you look at them offensively, last year they were one of the best rushing teams in all of college football. To be able to do that in this league says a lot.”

But Malzahn said he is also impressed by his own squad.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the offense performed well at Saturday’s scrimmage while the defense identified areas that need improving.

Saban said it’s time for all players to buy into the culture of success Alabama football has established.

“It’s very important that our players sort of buy into the culture of what has helped us be successful here for a long, long time,” Saban said. “And that’s the intangibles that we play with, the work ethic that we have, the discipline that we play with, the toughness, the effort … and people having a great sense of urgency about how important it is to do their job so that their unit, their team – our team – has a chance to be successful. That means we have to play to a standard – and it’s not really anybody else’s standard, it’s our standard.”

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said it’s concerning that players on his football team continue to test positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks before the SEC season kicks off, but there is a silver lining.

“When you’ve got guys out, specifically starters out, it gives other guys opportunities,” he said. “So, on the positive end of it, our other guys have gotten more reps than they’ve ever got.”

Malzahn said practices will now focus on Kentucky. Auburn hosts the Wildcats to kick off the season at 11 a.m. Sept. 26 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

RELATED: What impact will Chad Morris have on the Auburn offense in 2020?

Alabama football coach Nick Saban said preparing for a conference-only schedule during a pandemic has caused the Crimson Tide to structure practice differently on the Capstone.

Saban said the coaches have split up to allow them to practice all players all the time and give some players experience at other positions – even some on both offense and defense.

It’s an approach that could be pivotal this year if players are lost due to a positive COVID-19 test or exposure through contact tracing.

Auburn’s football team is back into a practice routine following a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined much of the team for several days.

Coach Gus Malzahn said the next two scrimmages will be more situational as the team shifts to game-prep mode compared to the past scrimmage that was more general in play calling and formations.

Auburn hosts Kentucky at Jordan-Hare Stadium at 11 a.m. on Sept. 26 to kick off the season.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he is encouraging his team and everyone to exercise their right to vote but said he would never endorse a particular candidate.

At his press conference this week, the Crimson Tide football coach said he supports the Alabama Athletics Civic Engagement Initiative that pushes athletes to register to vote, learn what is required to vote absentee and exercise their right to vote.

Saban said he would never endorse a candidate “or get involved in politics in any way, shape or form” because it’s not his place to do so.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the pandemic-shortened fall camp means there is less time for grinding, grueling physical practice and more need to ensure Crimson Tide players have the mental toughness and commitment to play every play.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s be prepared for anything. Saban wants to see that attitude on the practice field.

“The focus needs to be on the things that are going to help you perform and accomplish the goals you want to accomplish, not necessarily on the outcomes. Success is determined by consistency in performance and having the ability to focus on every play,” Saban said. “You never know when the play that you’re going to have an opportunity to make – whether it’s a pass to catch or a play to make on defense, a fumble to recover – you never know when that’s happening. So, if you’re not playing all-out and focused on every play, then you’re not going to have a chance to make those plays when they come up.”

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said the bad news is the football team has lost valuable practice time due to a COVID-19 outbreak. But the good news is there is still time to be ready for the first game on Sept. 26.

“We understand we’re four weeks out,” Malzahn said Sunday. “We feel like we have time to prepare. But, like I said, we’re going to take it day by day and do the best we can.”

Auburn was expected to resume practice today – the first practice since in a week.

Nick Saban knows how important football is to the greater community. He saw it growing up in his small hometown in West Virginia and he’s seen it on a higher level as the head coach at the University of Alabama.

And while he appreciates what it means to fans, alumni and the community at large, it’s the players that Saban hopes will get to take the field this football season. The COVID-19 pandemic remains a threat but the season is still scheduled to begin Sept. 26.

Proceeding with football is important, Saban said.

“Is it more important than public safety? No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Is there a way that we can do that and keep people safe? I think a lot of people are trying to do that and if we can do that, I think we can play. If we can’t do that, I think somebody will make a decision that maybe we shouldn’t play. But I don’t think that we should not try.”

Hear more of what Saban had to say below.

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn wants to see his Tigers football team going hard the next few weeks so they’re hardened for an all-SEC season.

Malzahn said after Saturday’s scrimmage at Jordan-Hare Stadium that he intends to hold up to four scrimmages prior to the start of the conference-only season kicking off on Sept. 26 against Kentucky. Saturday was the first of those scrimmages.

“We’ve got to put the ball down and play and block and tackle and get tackled and hold onto the ball and everything that goes with it,” he said. “That’s just our philosophy. I felt like we needed to be physical and get back in the swing of things with not having spring football.”

COVID-19 prevented the typical spring practice and has presented challenges to fall practice and a revamped season.

Hear more of what Malzahn had to say below.

After an unusual spring and summer, football players at Auburn and Alabama are on the familiar ground of the practice field this week as they prepare for a delayed, SEC-only football schedule.

Sure, there are masks being worn, social distancing taking place and regular temperature taking and virus testing. But it’s clear that players are excited to have the opportunity to take the field again this fall.

For Alabama senior wide receiver DeVonta Smith, it’s a chance to end his playing days at the Capstone on a high note.

For Alabama senior linebacker Dylan Moses, it’s an opportunity to finish a season healthy.

If there was a civil rights demonstration in downtown Birmingham, you could bet that Willie Mae Buford was going to be there. That meant that her young son, Ron Buford, was also there because she made sure she brought him along.

They vividly remember the water cannons, police dogs and racial slurs hurled by former Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor and others as they gathered at Kelly Ingram Park for a peaceful demonstration against segregation. Many of the protesters were schoolchildren, including Ron Buford.