Saban Not Sure Why Tide Has Been More Efficient Offensively At Home [VIDEO]

From the surface, it seems as if there have been two different Alabama teams that have taken the field in crimson and white this season.

When the Crimson Tide is playing at home in Bryant-Denny Stadium, the offense averages 610.3 yards per game (fourth-best in the nation) and 48.5 points per game (sixth-best).

But when the Crimson Tide plays on the road or a neutral site, it's a much different story. There, the offense averages only 389 yards per game (65th) and 34.7 points per game (33rd).

Alabama coach Nick Saban has had a hard time trying to understand it.

"The times that we’ve been on the road this year, we’ve been sort of up and down, inconsistent," he said.

Alabama boasts a perfect 4-0 record at home, where it will host No. 1 Mississippi State this Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS). In Tuscaloosa, it has won games by an average of 40.25 points, which includes victories over SEC foes, Florida and Texas A&M.

Away from home, the Crimson Tide is 4-1 (including its neutral-site win over West Virginia) with its lone loss coming to Ole Miss on Oct. 4. The average margin of victory in those wins has been 8.0 points.

"We played well at times when we needed to (in the away games) but didn’t play with a lot of consistency throughout the game," Saban said. "We can’t really put our finger on exactly why that is. We just hope that the formula continues to work whatever it is that has helped us play well at home because it’s certainly going to be necessary for us to do that in this game this weekend."

Robinson doing well

One of the biggest question marks heading into last week's game at LSU was anything but once the game started.

Left tackle Cam Robinson started and played the entire game for Alabama without any injury issues. Robinson sprained his ankle against Tennessee only two weeks earlier and was expected to be out for several weeks, including the LSU game, until Saban announced during his radio show last Thursday that the true freshman would be available to play.

"I think that he’s recovered from his injury and he was probably close to 100 percent in the game," Saban said Wednesday.

Robinson, a native of West Monroe, Louisiana, is one of seven players to start every game this season for Alabama. In general though, he has impressed.

"I think that it’s really amazing to me that Cam has played as well as he’s played this entire year as a freshman," Saban said. "The improvement that he was making prior to his injury was really pretty astonishing. He was playing as well as any offensive lineman that we have."

Marking a Bear

All eyes will be on Alabama in its attempt in containing Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott on Saturday, but if he's able to get the ball into another particular player's hands things might change a little.

De'Runnya Wilson, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound wide receiver nicknamed "Bear," will be the Bulldogs' biggest aerial threat on Saturday due to both his size and ability. Saban, of course, remembers all of that well from when he recruited him out of Wenonah High School in Birmingham during his senior season in 2012.

"I remember how very productive that he was," Saban said. "I remember going to school and actually visiting his school, meeting him, seeing him. I thought he would be a really good player because he had great size and was a great athlete and he certainly proved us to be absolutely correct because he uses his size really, really well. He’s got great hands, he’s a good athlete, he plays with a lot of toughness, he’s a very physical player, so I’m very, very impressed with the way he’s developed as a player and the way he’s played especially this year."

Cyrus Jones, Alabama's 5-foot-10, 194-pound junior cornerback, will have the job of covering him.

"I think it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to the challenge," Jones said. "It's another great receiver that’s playing really well this season. I’m just looking forward to stepping up and trying to make plays."

Jones has 27 tackles (two for loss), an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown.

Wilson has caught 22 passes for 367 yards and six touchdowns this season for Mississippi State.

'GameDay' member makes an appearance

Desmond Howard, the former Heisman Trophy winner at Michigan and current analyst on ESPN's "College GameDay," was present during Saban's Wednesday evening press conference.

Howard stood along the wall wearing a Brooklyn Nets hat and followed Saban out the door upon the conclusion of the presser. It is unknown if Howard had any sort of one-on-one interview with Saban.

"College GameDay" is in Tuscaloosa this week for Saturday's game at Bryant-Denny Stadium between No. 5 Alabama and No. 1 Mississippi State. The show will begin live at 8 a.m. CT on the Walk of Champions in front of the stadium.

Watch the player interviews from Wednesday below:

Cornerback Cyrus Jones:

Tight End O.J. Howard: