What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama Destroyed Mercer

The Crimson Tide head coach meets with the media after a blowout victory.

Nov 16, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer gestures during a timeout in the first quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The No. 10 Alabama football team defeated Mercer on Saturday 52-7 in the second to last home game of the season. The win gives the Crimson Tide three in a row and keeps the momentum high around the program as they enter the final two weeks.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media after the win and detailed what went right and wrong for the Crimson Tide.

Full Transcript from Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer:

Opening Statement:

"Good to get a win and get a lot of guys out there on the field. They all put in a lot of work and there's that little window that you try to hit where you get the one's the work and you get the score where you need it to be and for the guys to play a quarter and a half essentially and get a lot of guys on the football field, it was fun to see them get out there and play and work on their execution. I like that we got three more takeaways. I think there's a mindset about our defense in three of the first four possessions to do that. Just really like where we're at. We're hunting the ball.

"Offensively, putting the drives there. I know right at the end of the first half, maybe had a field goal there, would love to score in the redzone, get a touchdown. For the most part, taking care of the football, no turnovers and getting the takeaways. That's where it all starts. Guys worked hard all week long. I thought they really had a good demeanor about them, wanting to work themselves individually, wanting to build on what we did a week ago and going into the tail end of the season here, relatively healthy as far as who played today and no one getting seriously dinged up for next week."

What did you see on the Robbie Ouzts touchdown and what he does for the offense?

"Yeah, he's kind of a swiss-army knife for us out there, especially the blocking piece. For him to get down the field, they put a lot of guys up toward the line of scrimmage, that's just a part of what they do and they've been very successful with it, number one at the FCS level in rush defense. Some play-actions there that we got behind them on. For Robbie to haul one in, that was really exciting for our guys, exciting for him. I love to see it. He got a chance as a senior to talk to the team last night. You can just tell the love our team has for him, how much they appreciate the effort that he brings, each and every day, not just each and every week, but he's got a mindset, a toughness about him that just exudes what Alabama football is all about."

What did you think of how the backup quarterbacks played in the game?

"Yeah, Ty [Simpson] with some scrambles, the long one kind of along our sidelines. I think people who really know and have watched Ty, probably all of you, you can see that he's got that ability, can do things with his feet. Everyone gets tied in with Jalen and his running ability, but Ty is tough to handle when it comes to running the football too. Escaping, making some plays, the third down throwing it deep, or fourth down throwing it deep. If it's picked off, it's picked off. Smart just to give him a chance and find a way to make a play. I thought Dylan [Lonergan] and Austin [Mack] coming in and moving the chains. Dylan on a fourth down, was it a fourth down, right? Fourth down conversion. Austin coming in, laying a ball down the left sideline for the touchdown. There's that fine window of trying to let these guys run the offense and getting that experience and an opportunity to do what they work on each and everyday. I was proud of the way they just handled everything from the execution to even just the procedural things where making sure guys are lined up before we motioned, all that stuff. I thought it was a good day for all them as a whole."

How big was it to get a non-offensive touchdown? Is the seal broken now?

"Yeah, those are exciting. The guys talk about it when they come up short. They think they have a chance to score they always hear about, you should've kept it along the sideline, or cutback and for us to get him in the endzone with that long return it was something that was exciting for the whole team because they've gotten the takeaways, we just haven't ended up with one in the endzone like that. I love the mindset, again, just going back to what the defense is doing, they're attacking. Three and out is what they're shooting for, but right now, the position they're putting our offense in, getting points on the board now too, it's really good."

Why did the starting defense play a little longer than the starting offense?

"Well, I think first of all, there's a lot of guys rotating in on defense to begin with. There's a lot of young guys we already have on the football field with the ones and then there's less experience even when you put the twos out there. A lot of that one and two is in rotation up front and in the secondary. And then the score isn't completely lopsided and when you start putting the next guys in with the offense you want to be careful just to make sure the game can stay, nothing crazy happens. I know probably none of you felt like it was in jeapoardy. But you know those are just things that you want to be careful of, make sure that you get through the quarter and then get into the fourth. But, again, we play a lot of guys already before you even get to substituting there in the later part of the game."

What did you see in the team this week as far as focus goes?

"Yeah, we've really, as we get to the latter half of the season, really honed in on more and more leaders stepping up, take care of yourself, own what you do, take care of that and then bring someone with you. The intensity in practice, it's not like guys are flying off the wall and things like that, but there's a focus that they bring and there's a business-like approach where they know they've got to do this. They've got to eat right, sleep right, do all those things off the field, take care of their business there and it leads to the success that they've had. When you do those things right and you invest, invest in improving yourself, improving our team. Downstairs, I know some of the upper classmen are talking about how much they appreciate the young guys and how happy they were that some of those guys got a chance to go out there, they're giving scout team looks all week long, all season long, for them to get out there and have a little success and enjoy the moment was great and the whole team's happy for them."

What's gone into Jihaad Campbell's improvement?

"That's a great example of you don't have to have the "C" to be a leader. Jihaad is exactly that. He's been a leader for us ever since I could remember. I've counted on him. I go to him expecting big things, expecting that leadership. He can run, it starts there. But I think more and more he plays ball, executes the plays, understands what our defense is and how it matches up against what he's seeing, trusting the others around him, not trying to do too much and just attacking. He's feeling it and there's confidence that he has that you see coming out in the playmaking ability. That's not just him, but a lot of guys, but it starts with some of those guys that are making plays consistently and Jihaad's one of them."

What have you thought about the offensive line's performance through 10 games?

"There's going to be plays, we didn't have any sacks today, I know we got hit a couple times or had a little pressure. I think there's things, last week was a huge step running the football and just moving people. There's little adjustments, little tweaks, we played Geno [VanDeMark] a lot at right guard, just to give Jaeden [Roberts], Jaeden could've been out there and played for us, but it was good to get Geno out there. We've got to continue build that depth and I think just to get more in sync. You really don't see any busts and it's been going on for many weeks now, you don't see busts. They've been really consistent. The execution's been good and they're just trying to make the execution better and better and better each and every week both in the pass protection and in the run game."

What has impressed you the most about Ryan Williams?

"Probably just how he handles it all. He's a player that comes to work every day. Nothing goes to his head. He's about the team. He really is. When we call upon him or when we need to make a play, he's ready. He's consistent each and every day. He's a joy to be around. He's got a smile on his face. I've been challenging him to be a leader because obviously we're looking to him as a guy that's one of our playmakers. The respect the whole team has has been there, really since day one because of how hard he does work and then the production as well so it's just really how he handles everything. There's just a maturity about him that's well beyond his years. I think we know how old he is, right? But it's really cool and I'm proud of him and I'm proud of the way the guys have really rallied around him at times but I'm proud of the way he just puts the team first, always."