What Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama survived the South Carolina scare

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 7 Alabama survived against South Carolina on Saturday as the Crimson Tide won 27-25, defeated the Gamecocks and got back on the winning list. The Crimson Tide allowed 19 unanswered points from South Carolina but bounced back from last week’s loss to Vanderbilt.

Head coach Kalen DeBoer meets with the media to talk about what Alabama did right and what went wrong for the Crimson Tide.

Opening speech:

“Okay, yeah. One more game until the end. We kind of got used to it. I think there are certainly some things we can do to make sure it doesn’t get to that point, but we always talk about finding one.” As many times as it seemed like we weren’t, we did it. The biggest thing I’m proud of is the reaction that happened earlier this week today from the way they prepared for training, whether it was just the reaction we had on Sunday after we met and talked about the truth about what had happened a week ago.

“Tuesday, just got back to work. Just a very, very unified group that understands that there’s so much more that we can get better at. We talked a lot about different things South Carolina would do that would be more difficult matches for us. Areas.” and the strengths of their team, which were perhaps different than a week ago. We knew they would be strong up front and thought we did a good job with a mostly balanced attack. When we tried to force the issue or get into longer situations or try to push the ball up the field, that worked obviously backfired. I think we had three, four sacks and three takeaways. That was always a focus and we were proud of how the boys handled it. The interception was the fourth or third. I’m just proud of the way the boys fight.

“When it comes to the onside kick, we talk about our thought process, the score being 1-0 and concentrating on the next move. I used it from day one because the ball is a funny shaped object and bounces. “Yeah, we just have to get him.” It seems pretty easy, but that obviously didn’t happen. The guys are trying really hard, but we found a way to attack our defense, be aggressive and put them in a difficult position there the last bit.

What do you think about Germie Bernard getting on his knees after a big catch?

“Yes, we knew we had to go first, just given the time left on the clock. They really didn’t have any time off, so there’s risk and reward to these calls. We’re right there.” The edge of what it would take to make a field goal makes it extra special in terms of what they have to score. So there are a lot of components, a lot of things that have to do with what we tried to do. There are many safe ways and things that we have discussed in this piece. I think they tried to run a lot of those and I love that Jalen saw it. I often think that early in the season we may not have seen those things, but that he understood the offense, just his familiarity . And then he just made the throw, made the catch and found ways to execute. Those guys on that execution were obviously a big part of the win.

What was the reason for the call when I lined up on 4th-and-1 on the opening drive?

“Yeah, I’m pretty confident they were trying to tell us to leave. The analytics pretty much say you should go on every fourth and every one. You just saw what we were going to put up and how we were going to do it the first time. Of course, it’s a big part and you hate to punt on the first drive , if it is the third or fourth and one. Great job from the guys who did something we haven’t really done this year.

What was the reason for the decision to wait and take a timeout at the end of the first half?

“Yeah, I trust, I trust our guys. That obviously hurt us, the points and the points they got at the end of the half. I think if we can make a play, we can throw it in the end zone. “On fourth down and when the clock ends, when we have the football, I’m all for it. Worst case scenario you have to stab a sack or something, I don’t like stabbing but that was for me. Worst case scenario I’m just always aggressive. You try to weigh up the risk-reward ratio and put your trust in the guys. That’s what we’re going to talk about, J-Mill, Coach Sheridan, we’re going to sit there and talk about it. If we’re in that moment and we’re trying to give ourselves another play, then it could be a defensive pass interference. It could be anything that gives us another play. That’s just the aggressiveness that I like to have when trusted, but we have to learn from things like that when they happen because obviously they got three points from it. That was probably the last thing on my mind when it happened.

What does it say about Domani Jackson’s strength to overcome injuries and make game-winning plays?

“He’ll be fine. He was out there again. The guy wants to play. He’s had a great season so far and he’s someone we have a lot of confidence in. We wanted to use him at the right time and in the right moments” in the second half when they showed up.

Again, it’s about finding a way to pull it down and focus on the ball – it may seem like a simple shot, but you still have to be there and play the ball. I’m definitely proud of the fight he showed and his desire to get back out there, especially considering he went down earlier in the game.

How can Alabama reduce its penalties in the future?

“I mean, they’re punishments. We are aiming for zero and that is what we want to achieve. We emphasize it. Every situation is a learning situation, and that’s what we’re going to talk about. We have to read the body language of what is happening.

“I haven’t seen it, so what I’m saying may not be correct, but I understand that I know his responsibilities when he comes across the field. If he doesn’t hear a whistle, you have to have a sense of what’s happening in front of you – whether or not your husband slowed down when you met him. I thought maybe we could even catch him and let him out or let him go.

“It wasn’t something where he was trying egregiously to get a penalty. It’s more about reading the situation and knowing instinctively that the play is a touchback. I’ll watch this on film to understand how close it was. According to the letter from.” The law, yes, probably a penalty – touchback and stuff. We can’t have that.

“This hurt us because it put us in a bad situation from a security perspective. The moves kept piling up. The little things – even if that was a big deal – added up and we were in a fight until the end.”

While leaving the field on fourth down

“What were we? 7 for 15? 5 I think they had five on one trip, right? Four or five, something like that. I never talked about it on the sidelines. So the rest of the half, two, right? Two.” for the rest of the game, two for 10, is that correct?

“I’m just doing rough calculations. There can’t be five of us on a trip, and I think it comes down to the desire to find a way to make the piece happen. I’ll watch the film and we’ll understand what.” This often happened in good situations. I remember the ball they caught over the middle was an advantage for us in terms of loss of possession and distance.

“Here you really have to come off the field and they are difficult to implement from the offensive side – but they did it. For most of the game I felt like we did a good job. I can’t say it was great, but that second half drive set the tone and made things difficult for us for the rest of the game.

“You have to start quicker when we get out. We talked about the middle eight – going in the locker room and coming out. They got the ball and they got those points in the first half. We just have to do one.” It’s better to start quickly in the middle of the game and of course finish it.

“I think we did some good things on both ends, but we need to do a better job of carrying the momentum into the locker room.”

About Domani Jackson returning the ball on an interception without executing a touchback

“We made all these calls, we practice them, and Friday was about making them aware that the opponent doesn’t have timeouts in this situation.”

“We will talk about it – these things have affected us. I had just spoken to Damani about it. We learn it here too. His attitude was, “I’m going to run away 24/7,” which is true. But we all understand that all we have to do is get on our knees. We must continue to learn from this.

“Luckily nothing happened in the end – no injuries or anything unusual that leads to another play. We just have to keep training and teaching. You talk about these things and think that everyone is good at getting on their knees in the end zone and knowing. “There are no timeouts. We knew that.

“Then he comes out with this statement and that was the last thing I expected him to say. But I love the kid, love the piece, and we’ll learn from it.”

To enemy attacks with long journeys

“I think both of these offenses that we’re facing are more designed to have drives that continue to stack plays on top of each other. “I know they made the explosive play on fourth down against our coverage, but the ball down the sideline took out the safety.” of the picture.

“I think there’s a little bit more of that, and you know, the running back and the quarterback were moving the chains further – three yards, four yards – trying to get into those third-and-ones and third-and-twos “To transform slopes or something like that” so that the drive stays alive. I can’t say they’re armed.

“But it’s frustrating when they can put together attacks. This puts a strain on the defense and the longer the attack lasts, the greater the chances of scoring a goal.”