Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's 27-25 win over South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 7-ranked Alabama defeated South Carolina, 27-25, on Saturday at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. After win No. 5 as the Crimson Tide head coach, Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters. Below is everything DeBoer said after the Week 7 victory.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Another game down the wire. We’re kind of getting accustomed to those. I think there’s some things that we can certainly do to make sure that doesn’t get to that point. But we always talk about finding a way to win, and as many times it maybe looked like we weren’t, we did. And the guys, I guess, the biggest thing I’m proud of is the response starting early in the week. Today, there’s things I think that happened because of the way they came ready to practice, whether it was just a response Sunday after we got together and kind of talked over the truth of what we had happen a week ago, and then Tuesday, just back to work. So a very, very unified group that understands that there’s still so much more we can get better at. 

“I think we talked a lot about different things that South Carolina would do that would be tougher matchups for us, areas and the strength of their team that were maybe different than a week ago. And that’s the way it’s going to be every single week. And so, we knew that up front, they were going to be stout. I thought we did a nice job with a balanced attack most of the time. Obviously, when we tried to force the issue and got into some some longer situations or tried to press the ball down the field, especially in the first half, that backfired on us. 

“But defensively, got to the quarterback. Three or four sacks, I think it was, and three takeaways. And that’s always an emphasis, continues to be an emphasis and proud of the way the guys came through with those. Just proud of the way the guys fight. 

“The onside kick, we talk about our thought process and being 1-0 and focusing on the next play. And I used it from Day 1 about the ball being a funny-shaped object and bouncing. Yeah, we just need to go grab. It seems pretty simple, but obviously, that didn’t happen. So guys are trying, great effort on it, but found a way. Our defense went out there, attack, be aggressive and put them in a tough spot there on the last play.”

DeBoer on the decision to call the play on the last touchdown…

“We knew he had to get the first down. Really with how much time was on the clock, they didn’t the timeouts, so there is a risk-reward on those calls. We were right over the edge of what it would take to kick a field goal. Field goal makes it different as far as what they’ve got to score. Lot of components, a lot of things that are involved in what we’re trying to do. There were a lot of safe avenues and things that we discussed on that play, and they were aggressive in trying to play a lot of those. 

“Just like a lot of our concepts there is a deeper route. I love that Jalen saw it, because I think a lot of times that’s early in the season, we didn’t maybe see those things. But him and understanding the offense, just his familiarity. And then making the throw and making the catch, that’s finding ways to get it done. Proud of the guys on that execution, and obviously that was a huge part of the win.”

DeBoer on going for it on 4th and 1 on your own 34…

“I’m pretty confident (the analytics) were saying to go. Pretty much the analytics any 4th and 1, you should go for it. But yeah, we were and just felt confident with the tempo. And we really haven’t done much of that. So even them just seeing what we would line up and how we would run it the first time, that was something we were pretty confident. We work on it every single week, later part of the week, and I thought the guys did a nice job. And a big part obviously of getting some momentum. You hate punting on the first drive when it’s 4th and 1. So great, great job with the guys executing something we hadn’t really done this year.”

DeBoer on the decision to call a timeout with 11 seconds left in the first half…

“I trust our guys. That one, obviously, the points they got at the end of the half there hurt us. I’m thinking if we can get one play to where we can throw it in the end zone on fourth down and the clock ends with us having the football, I’m all for it. Worst-case scenario, you take a sack or something, you have to punt it. I don’t like punting, really, anytime. But that was, to me, the worst-case scenario. 

“I guess I’m always just aggressive that way. You try to weigh the risk/reward and put the trust in the guys, things we talk about. That’ll be something obviously me, J-Mill, Coach Sheridan, we’ll sit and talk about just when we’re in that moment and we want to keep the pedal down and try to give ourselves another play. I’m looking for anything. The pass might be defensive pass interference. It could be anything that gives us one more play. We’ve seen crazier things happen, right? That’s just the aggressiveness I like to have.

“Now, we’ll talk about the trust. I think the guys appreciate when you put the trust in them, but we have to learn from those things when they do happen because, obviously, they got three points out of it. That’s probably the last thing I was thinking about when it did happen.”

DeBoer on Domani Jackson…

“I think he’ll be fine. Obviously, he was back out there. The guy wants to go out there. He’s had a great season so far. He’s someone we’ve got a lot of confidence in, and we just wanted to use him at the right times, the right moments in that second half when those times came up. And again, finding a way to pull it down, concentrate on the ball. Most people would look at it as an easy pick, but you’ve got to still be there and you’ve got to make the play. Definitely proud of the fight that he had in wanting to be back out there, considering he did go down earlier in the game.”

DeBoer on the penalties…

“Penalties, we’re striving for zero. That’s what we’re trying to do. We emphasize it. Every situation is a learning one, and we’re gonna talk about that. 

“Like we have to read body language of what’s happening. I haven’t seen it, so what I say may be totally not correct, but the understanding is when he comes across the field – I know what his responsibility is – but when he’s coming across the field and doesn’t hear a whistle, you at some point have to have the sense of what’s happening in front of you, if your guy has slowed down or anything like that when you hit him. I know the ball wasn’t that deep in the end zone, I thought we might even field it and bring it out. 

“It was a late decision whether we were gonna do that or let it go. It wasn’t something where he’s egregiously trying to go out and get a penalty. It’s more a matter of reading what’s happening in front of you and instinctually knowing the play is a touchback. That’s something I’m sure I’ll see on film and understand how close it was. I know by the letter of the law, yeah, a penalty. Ball was a touchback and all that. So we can’t have it, we can’t do it. That was one that hurt us because it put us in that situation for the safety. Those plays kept feeding on each other, the small things add up, and we find ourselves in a fight till the end.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s defensive struggles on third down…

“What were we? Seven for 15. They were 7-for-15. I think they had five on one drive, right? Something like that. I remember talking about it one the sideline. And so the rest of the half, two. The rest of the game, 2-for-10. So we can’t have five of them in a drive, right? And I think there’s just that desire to find a way to make the play. I’ll watch the film and we’ll all understand what happened on a lot of those. They were in some good situations on some. I remember the ball they caught over the middle was advantageous for us as far as the down and distance, and that’s the one where you’ve really gotta get off the football field. And those are hard to convert just from an offensive side, and they did.

“So a lot of the game, I felt like we were doing a solid job. Can’t say we were doing a great job, but that drive, certainly coming out in the second half, set the tone and made it hard for us the rest of the game. So you’ve gotta start a little faster when we come out. We talk about the middle eight – going into the locker room, coming out. They got the ball and then they had those points at the end of the first half. We’ve just gotta do a good job of starting fast in the middle of the game and then obviously finishing. And I think we did some things on both ends, but we’ve gotta do a good job there before we go in the locker room, taking that momentum in.”

DeBoer on if he told Jackson, Germie Bernard to go down late in the game…

“We have all those calls in. We practice them every Friday. That was, honestly, I would just say that you try to make them aware that they don’t have any timeouts. That’s a situation. And so we’ll talk about that. There are things that hit us. There was the one with Domani, I just talked to him about it. And again, this is where we learn. We learn. What his mindset is is I’m going to run off the clock. And so, true, right? But we all understand all we gotta do is go down, take a knee.

“And so those are just things that we gotta continue to learn from. Fortunately, nothing happened at the end there, whether it’s an injury or obviously even something else to where there’s another play, something freakish happens. So just continue to coach, continue to teach. You talk about those things and think that everyone is good – just take a knee in the end zone, understanding there’s no timeouts. We knew that. But then he comes out with that, and that was the last thing I expected him to say. But love the kid, love the play and we’ll learn from it.”

DeBoer on if he sees a similar approach from offenses in terms of long drives…

“I think these two offenses we’ve faced are more built to have just drives that continue to have plays stack on top of each other. I know they got the explosive on the fourth down against our coverage with the ball down the sideline and it took the safety out of the picture there. But I think it fit more of them and the running back, quarterback, guys that just kept moving the chains three yards, four yards, trying to get in those 3rd and 4s, 3rd and 2s, convert slants or something like that just to keep the drive alive. 

“But I can’t say that they are or aren’t, but obviously, it’s frustrating when they can put five third downs together and then it starts wearing on your defense again. They’re out there a long time, and the longer the drive happens, the better chance they have of obviously scoring.”

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