What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama Survived South Carolina Scare

The Crimson Tide head coach met with the media after Alabama got back into the winning column on Saturday.

Oct 12, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer speaks with South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer during warmups at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 7 Alabama survived on Saturday against South Carolina as the Crimson Tide held on 27-25 to defeat the Gamecocks and get back into the win column. The Crimson Tide allowed 19 unanswered South Carolina points but held on to bounce 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.

Full Transcript from Alabama Head Coach Kalen DeBoer

Opening Statement:

"Alright, yep. Another game down to the wire. We've kind of been accustomed to those. I think there some things we can certainly do to make sure it doesn't get to that point, but we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it maybe looked like we weren't, we did. The guys, 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 the response Sunday after we got together and kind of talked over the truth of what we had happen a week ago.

"Tuesday, just back to work. Just a very, very unified group that understands that there's still so much more we can get better at. We talked a lot about different things that South Carolina would do that would be tougher matchups for us. Areas and the strengths of their team that were maybe different than a week ago. That's the way it's going to be every single week. We knew that upfront they were going to be stout and thought we did a nice job with a balanced attack, most of the time. Obviously, when we tried to force the issue or got into some longer situations or tried to press the ball down the field, especially at the end of the first half, that backfired on us. Defensively, we got to the quarterback. We had three, four sacks I think it was and three takeaways. That's always an emphasis, continued to be an emphasis and proud of the way the guys came through with those. Did we have three? Or four? I couldn't remember if the interception was the fourth or the third. 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. I've used it from day one about the ball being a funny shaped object and bouncing. Yeah we need to just go grab it. It seems pretty simple, but obviously, that didn't happen. The guys are trying, great effort on it, but we found a way, our defense go out there, attack and be aggressive and put them in a tough spot there on the last play."

Thoughts on Germie Bernard taking a knee after big catch?

"Yeah, we knew we had to get the first down, just really with how much time was on the clock. They really didn't have the timeouts so there is a risk, reward on those calls. We're just right on the edge of what it would take to kick a field goal. Field goal makes it a different, as far as what they've got to score. So a lot of components, a lot of things that are involved with what we tried to do. There's a lot of safe avenues and things we discussed on that play. I think they were aggressive in trying to play a lot of those. Just like a lot of our concepts there was a deeper route, and love that Jalen saw it. Because I think a lot of times early in the season, we didn't maybe see those things, but him understanding the offense, just his familiarity. And then him just making the throw, making the catch and finding ways to get it done. Proud of those guys on that execution. Obviously that was a huge part of the win."

Going for it on 4th&1 on the opening drive, what went into making the call?

"Yeah, I'm pretty confident they were saying to go. Pretty much the analytics say any fourth and one you should go for it. We were. Just felt confident with the tempo. 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. I thought the guys did a nice job and a big part, obviously, and getting some momentum. You hate punting on the first drive when it's third or fourth and one. So great job of the guys executing something we hadn't really done this year."

What factored into the choice to wait and call a timeout at the end of the first half?

"Yeah, I trust, I trust our guys. That one, obviously the points and the points they got at the end of the half hurt us. I'm thinking if we can get one play to where we can throw it in the endzone 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 anytime, but that was to me the worst-case scenario, but I'm always just aggressive that way. You try to weigh the risk-reward and put the trust in the guys. I think we talk about. That'll be something that me, J-Mill and Coach Sheridan, we'll sit and talk about. 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. It could be a defensive pass-interference, it could be anything that gives us one more play. We've seen crazier things. That's just the aggressiveness I like to have. We'll talk about the trust. I think the guys appreciate when you put the trust in, 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."

What does it say about Domani Jackson's toughness to fight through injury and make game-winning play?

"He'll be fine. He was back out there. 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 times and moments in the second half when they came up.

Again, finding a way to pull it down and concentrate on the ball—it might look like an easy pick, but you still have to be there and make the play. I'm definitely proud of the fight he showed and his desire to be back out there, especially considering he went down earlier in the game.

How can Alabama cut down on its penalties going forward?

"I mean, it's penalties. We strive for zero, and that's what we're trying to do. We emphasize it. Every situation is a learning one, and we're going to talk about that. We have to read the body language of what's happening.

"I haven't seen it, so what I say may not be correct, but the understanding is that when he comes across the field, I know his responsibility. If he doesn't hear a whistle, you have to have a sense of what's happening in front of you—whether your guy has slowed down or not when you hit him. The ball wasn’t that deep in the end zone. I thought we might even field it and bring it out, or decide to let it go.

"It wasn't something where he was egregiously trying to get a penalty. It's more about reading the situation and instinctively knowing the play is a touchback. That’s something I’ll see on film to understand how close it was. By the letter of the law, yeah, probably a penalty—touchback and all that. We can’t have it.

"That one hurt us because it put us in a bad spot for the safety. Those plays kept piling up. The small things—though that was a big one—add up, and we found ourselves in a fight to the end."

On getting off the field on fourth down

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

"I'm just doing rough math. We can’t have five on a drive, and I think it comes down to that desire to find a way to make the play. I’ll watch the film, and we’ll understand what happened on a lot of those. They were in some good situations. I remember the ball they caught over the middle was advantageous for us in terms of down and distance.

"That’s where you really have to get off the field, and those are hard to convert from the offensive side—but they did. A lot of the game, I felt like we were doing a solid job. Can’t say it was great, but that drive coming out in the second half set the tone and made it tough for us the rest of the game.

"You’ve got to start faster when we come out. We talked about the middle eight—going into the locker room and coming out. They got the ball, and they had those points in the first half. We just need to do a better job of starting fast in the middle part of the game and, obviously, finishing.

"I think we did some things well on both ends, but we need to do a better job of taking momentum into the locker room."

On Domani Jackson returning the ball on the interception, not taking a touchback

"We have all those calls in, we practice them, and Friday was about making them aware that the opponent has no timeouts in that situation.

"We’ll talk about it—those things hit us. I had just talked to Damani about it. Again, this is where we learn. His mindset was, “I’m going to run off the clock,” which is true. But we all understand that all we need to do is go down and take a knee. Those are things we’ve got to keep learning from.

"Fortunately, nothing happened at the end—no injuries or something freakish that leads to another play. We just need to keep coaching and teaching. You talk about these things, and you think everyone’s good with taking a knee in the end zone and knowing there are no timeouts. We knew that.

"Then he comes out with that, which was the last thing I expected him to say. But I love the kid, love the play, and we’ll learn from it."

On opposing offenses having long drives

"I think these two offenses we face are more built to have drives that continue to stack plays on top of each other. I know they got the explosive play on the fourth down against our coverage, but the ball down the sideline took the safety out of the picture.

"I think a bit more of them, and you know, the running back and quarterback kept moving the chains—three yards, four yards—trying to get into those third-and-ones and third-and-twos, converting slants or something like that to keep the drive alive. I can’t say that they are armed.

"But it’s frustrating when they can put together drives. It starts wearing on your defense, and the longer the drive goes, the better chance they have of scoring."