Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's 42-13 road win over LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 11 Alabama defeated No. 15 LSU, 42-13, on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. After win No. 7 as the Crimson Tide head coach, Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters. Below is everything DeBoer said following Alabama’s impressive road win over LSU.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“I’m just super proud of the guys. The way they prepared, I think, led them to a place where we had some pretty good confidence coming in. Just felt like the energy was there all week long, and as the week progressed, you could just feel that we were on top of our game and understood what it would take to come here and play four quarters. 

“I felt like that was probably the most complete game we’ve played. We’ve done that to some extent here the last two games against Missouri and tonight. So coming into a tough environment, just play after play and just staying the course. And then coming out in the third quarter, getting an interception. I think just going back down the field and playing good complementary team football.”

DeBoer on Jalen Milroe seeming like he could do whatever he wanted…

“I think there’s a lot of other guys that helped him get to those spots where we were ahead in the chains. A lot of smaller gains that get you into positions where your whole playbook is available to you. And obviously, he’s got a superpower when it comes to running the football. You can see him not just be a guy that gets first downs but finishes in the end zone. So him doing what he did early on just really got the ball rolling there and made throws that were timely when needed. And other guys continue to step up. Again, when we stay ahead of the chains and the whole playbook is available, a lot we can do.”

DeBoer on Domani Jackson’s touchdown-saving tackle…

“Absolutely. You think about the score and the touchdowns for us when we got in those moments and hold them to field goals and just being able to slowly extend the lead, putting the pressure on them. Every time you have a drive and you’re swapping field goals for touchdowns, you don’t like that. But for us, I thought that was huge. And I love where our defense is at right now. We might give up a play here or there, but they move on to the next one, go out and execute and they’re getting that mindset where one yard is too many. They didn’t wanna give up that touchdown at the end either. A lot of pride right now on that side of the ball.”

DeBoer on Kane Wommack’s game plan to limit Garrett Nussmeier…

“I think we had to just keep mixing up what they were seeing. He’s a great quarterback and can predetermine a little bit of where the ball might go. And I thought over the course of the week you could see the wrinkles that we continue to add, a play off a play. Just really be effective. And I think that was the case. Again, just mixing up the defenses, mixing up the pressures and just making plays when we had a chance. There was a couple tackles we missed, a couple edges we gave up. But for the most part, I thought we were pretty sound, lined back up and played ball again.”

DeBoer on Deontae Lawson’s interception at the goal line…

“I think that’s one of the biggest plays there in the game. There’s a lot of them, right? But coming out of the locker room, that feeling where, hey, just don’t give them a touchdown early or give them any points. And to take that wind out of their sails, get the takeaway and then, I believe, we went right down the field and got the points, big swing of energy there and momentum.”

DeBoer on having a faster start on offense…

“There’s plays that you’re making, and I believe a completion on third down, I think about how big those are. Those plays that you forget about because it wasn’t the touchdown, but those conversions right there are the ones that extend the drive and allows you to keep stacking plays. And understand what you’re seeing and verifying that it’s what you really were preparing for and feel really good about the plan. With the weather and the elements, we knew that having a controlled run game was gonna be really big. We popped some explosives with J-Mil. But just continue to wear down those couple 2- and 3-yard plays that we had early on turned into five, six, seven as the game wore on.”

DeBoer on how Alabama prepared to play in the rain…

“Yeah, we did, especially early in the week. Tuesday. What I loved about our guys is they were asking – we had all kinds of ways to get water on the ball, get it on the arms, on the body, on the hands. And running backs and receivers just putting their hands back, asking to get them wet and making that challenge. Not just something where they’re annoyed by it; actually asking for it and knowing full well that that could be the case. We were prepared for it. You look at really no turnovers, right? No turnovers on the game. Really, that’s a big difference in the game, and our ball security, I thought, was on point.”

DeBoer on Jihaad Campbell’s performance, strip sack…

“The takeaways, right, Deontae’s takeaway and then the strip sack, huge, because it was disappointing that we didn’t take advantage of where we were at on the field our drive before. But to get the ball back and be able to respond and get those points that we felt we missed on, a great play by him and just getting the energy and the momentum back on our side.”

DeBoer on what he saw from preparation from Milroe, Nick Sheridan…

“The word of the week for us was relentless. Relentless in what we do on the field each and every play, but just relentless in our preparation. It just starts with simple things, just trying to go silent cadence and managing that and knowing the checks were gonna be maybe down to two or three seconds if you had to make a check or whatever it might be with the crowd noise that it would be hard, that it wouldn’t be easy. And they just stayed the course, kept buckling down, kept getting better and better. 

“Going back to the bye week, kept getting better and better. On Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you could just see the momentum building. Really liked it, liked what I saw, and I think we learned a lot from the Tennessee game. I was thinking otherwise maybe after the first play of the game, right, with the penalty there. But I still felt in my heart, felt very comfortable that we would be in a much better situation. That was just kind of a one-off thing.”

DeBoer on what Alabama showed him tonight…

“You’re just trying to stack days, and along with that, when you do that, there’s a little bit of a swagger. And I really don’t feel like we’ve ever been overconfident or complacent in any way. We haven’t done enough here since we’ve been here to get to that point. So any of the things that have happened over the course of the season, I just attribute to the things where maybe it’s not gone as we’d hoped. I really attribute it to just part of our growth. Growth together and just staying the course. And you can see slowly the little things coming together, and we’ve gotta reload it all and do it all over again and do it this week, back it up, keep improving. But it does make you feel good to see the progress that maybe is happening in practice but it doesn’t show up in games. And now, it’s starting to show up in the big moments.”

DeBoer on if he feels like Milroe was rested and rejuvenated…

“Yeah, I think so. He probably had some good vibes from a year ago, too. I think there’s something about we got him off to a fast start, and again, other guys did their job, too, to help him get to that spot. There’s blocks that other guys are making. I think our line played physical. I think we won the trenches, both offensive line and defensive line. But blowing open some holes for him, everyone doing their part helped take the pressure off the big moments where he’s gotta convert on a third and extra long every drive. And when we’re able to stay ahead of the chains, we can dink and dunk three yards, five yards, eight yards, and then, all of a sudden, a big explosive play. But yeah, I felt like he was certainly running well tonight, wasn’t he? He was fresh.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!