TUSCALOOSA — At Mississippi State last Saturday, Alabama started eight seniors on defense and two more on an offensive line that is blocking for a Heisman Trophy candidate.

This week’s game against Chattanooga (6-4) is the home finale for this class, which coach Nick Saban said has played a large role in changing the direction of the program.

“It’s a special day Saturday for the seniors that have represented and gone through the transition of the program here and helped us build by their buy-in a real foundation for the principles and values that are important to have a successful program,” Saban said Wednesday after practice this week. “We certainly appreciate that and want to honor these guys in every way we can.”

Quarterback Greg McElroy, a redshirt junior who came into the program in 2006, talked about the contribution of these seniors.

“As much as any senior class, this senior class was such a huge part of last year’s success,” McElroy said. “Last year’s senior class was nine or 10 players, so these guys really made up a lot of key positions for us. Their leadership, their resiliency, the fact that they were able to be such a big part of getting this program back to where it belongs; we can’t say enough about those guys.”

But it certainly hasn’t been easy. This class didn’t look destined for greatness.

Javier Arenas has been a thrilling return man his entire career. But few saw him as an All-SEC cornerback three years ago.

Cory Reamer was a high school standout who was too slow to play safety and too small to play linebacker in the Southeastern Conference four years ago. But the senior has played both inside and outside linebacker the last two seasons.

Cornerback Marquis Johnson all but needed a matador’s cape as bigger, stronger receivers ran past him as a sophomore. But he’s ranged from solid to spectacular this year. He helped the Crimson Tide hold off South Carolina and got his first interception — along with three break-ups — last week against Mississippi State.

Right tackle Drew Davis came from Sparta Academy in Evergreen. Placekicker Leigh Tiffin didn’t look destined to become the school’s career scoring leader as a freshman. Punter P.J. Fitzgerald’s reliability has improved exponentially.

“Just about everyone out there I could say something about,” Saban said. “Some of the guys you don’t even know very well, have not played much, don’t get their names in the paper, … don’t even get to dress all the time that do a day’s work every day in practice in helping get the other guys get prepared and are satisfied with that role and that contribution to the team.

“I have just as much compassion and adulation for what those guys contribute to the program as the star players who have started in a bunch of games. So all of them in their own way have been responsible for their own role and been contributors in a very positive way to any success we have had.”

One of those stars, left guard Mike Johnson, agreed that it’s been a wild ride for this class. They signed with Mike Shula and rode out the transition with Saban. Many classmates did not.

“When we got here, you sign with these guys and you’re happy that you’ve made some new friends, and you have these coaches that recruited you,” Johnson said.

“You kind of have a vision for what you want things to be like. I don’t think anybody’s vision resulted in this at the end. Maybe the wins, but not the coaching staff. We’ve lost a lot of our class along the way. People have had to go other directions.”

Less than three full seasons into the change, Alabama sits 10-0 and ranked second in the country. They finished the regular season 12-0 and ranked No. 1 last year.

Arenas attributes the improvement and the hunger to Saban.

“Personally, I’ve picked up from him just the grinding mentality, never satisfied. No matter how much we win by, he’s in the office the next day, getting after it, trying to figure out a way to win big the next week,” Arenas said.

“I’ve picked that up from him. You can always see that want-to in him. And I think the whole senior class has picked that up. That’s why we’ve been winning so much, because we’re never satisfied. We want to go out there and get better each and every day. And the intensity that he brings and provides, we all feed off of that.”

Johnson doesn’t expect a big dropoff when this class moves on, either. That adds to his appreciation of Saturday’s home finale.

“Just thankful for the guys that I’ve come up here with and been through this with,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier with where I’m leaving the program and where this place stands.”