University of Alabama coach Nick Saban’s message during his press conference on Monday was a simple one, keep looking ahead.

For the Crimson Tide that means not dwelling on last week’s 59-0 victory against Texas A&M, but Saturday’s game at rival Tennessee (7:30 p.m. ESPN2).

Here’s some of what he said:

“There was really nothing really different on the film other than when you look at things closely, you always find things that you can improve on and areas that we can execute better. The effort in this last game, the toughness that we played with, the physical nature of the way we ran the ball all game, tackled, all those things are real positive energy-type things that we really want to build on.

“But it’s really kind of time to turn the page on this last game and turn our attention to Tennessee and what we need to do to prepare to play our best football against a very good team.”

On Tennessee:

“This game that we have every year with Tennessee is one of the great rivalry games in college football. It certainly has a lot of tradition, and is something that has been very special and means a lot to a lot of our fans. Certainly means a lot to me and our staff and our team.

“Tennessee, I think, has a much-improved team. In a lot of ways, they could be 5-2 very easily. They lost two really close games to Georgia and Florida, and had opportunities to be successful in the game. I think it starts with the fact that they’ve got very good skill players and a very good quarterback on offense, most of which have quite a bit of experience.

“Defensively, they’re much improved. Almost 100 less yards a game than a year ago, a lot fewer points. Really played well in the secondary and done a good job of pass defense and their front seven has done a good job. This to me is a much, much improved team. It will take a very good effort on our part in terms of what we have to do to play them up there on the road, to focus and execute like we need to to have success.”

On the game plan against Texas A&M and how much things get changed:

“We have a game plan for every game. I think what it comes down to is not the scheme but the execution thereof, and I think that’s what we really should stay focused on is what we want to do, sound, solid against what the other team likes to do, but the big thing is how do we execute? So it’s not the changes that you make necessarily in the scheme, it’s the changes in the way you execute the things that you do relative to what the other team does.”

On the way Alabama played in the trenches against Texas A&M:

“What I’d rather focus on is what you’re going to do in this game, if we’re talking about that. The last game is kind of over. We did a good job in the game. The lines did a good job in the game. We did a better job on the offensive line. We need to build on that. The defensive line did a good job in the game. There was a lot of pass rush, not a lot of run. It’s going to be different in this game. We need to improve and continue to build on the positive energy that we have so that we can play better this week.”

On being more aggressive when facing opponents that might be having problems with the offensive line:

“I think that we’re always trying to do is to the best job to put our players in the best position to have success. I think that Tennessee has a lot of explosive players at receiver, a good young runner, and they’re very capable offensively of moving the ball and making explosive plays, which they made quite a few against us last year. Their offensive line, in my mind, is very capable of being effective, and I think the thing that we need to do is focus on what we need to do to dominate the line of scrimmage and try to affect the quarterback in a way that will not allow them to make the plays with the really good skill players that they have.”

On Tennessee coach Butch Jones:

“I think that Butch has done a really good job there. He’s done a really good job in recruiting. The players really played hard and with a lot of discipline. They don’t get penalized much. They have got very good scheme on both sides of the ball. They are very sound in terms of what they do. I think he focused on coaching his philosophy and what he wants to do to have a successful program and I think the players have responded to it in a positive way. I think they played really well this year. I made this statement before, they lose by three to Georgia and lose by one point to Florida and they are a 5-2 team and everybody looks at them in a completely different light. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Butch and the job he’s doing and their team.”