What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama's Stunning Loss to Vanderbilt

A full video and transcript of Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer's press conference.

Oct 5, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer reacts after a touchdown against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-Imagn Images / Butch Dill-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–– Vanderbilt shocked the world on Saturday evening with a 40-35 upset victory over No. 1 Alabama.

Throughout the week, the Crimson Tide's practice facility was littered with mouse traps, implying that the game against the Commodores would not be as easy as the rest of the college football community expected.

After Saturday's result, it is clear that this was indeed a trap game as Vanderbilt has achieved its greatest win in program history, as this was one of the biggest upsets in sports overall in quite some time.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke after the game.

Kalen DeBoer's Full Transcript

Opening Statement:

"Obviously, extremely disappointed, frustrated. You named what it is. That's what everyone is like in the locker room right now. You prepare and it's positive energy all week long. I really think our guys prepared hard. There's some things that look back on tomorrow. Really, really frustrated about talking, 'what-ifs' that's gonna be the situation we're going to be dealing with tomorrow. The guys in the locker room, we just talked about that there's only one option to move forward, to get back to work. I feel we've got a great football team. We weren't at our best today. We're gonna find out how much we care about each other, and what it looks like moving forward. We've been tested in different ways, really, a lot of the games here this season, and this is a different type of test for us now in our response."

On Alabama's defense inability to get off the field on third down:

"The quarterback did a nice job of creating and we've got to do a better job of just being disciplined. Do our job, and he keeps things alive with his feet whether it was third down or just other downs over there. They converted some third-and-longs and those are the frustrating ones and so just great execution on their part. Obviously, we expect to do good on third down too, because we've done great things on third-down and more fourth down. The undefined guys are certainly frustrated about that, we'll look at it and understand they attacked us in a few ways. But tip the hat to them. They made throws and big catches they needed to and got themselves into some manageable third downs early in the game. I think it was 6-for-7 or so right away. So they just continue to wear on us and stay on the football field. I see the time of possession, and that just continues to wear on your defense when you're out there that long."

How much consideration was there to go for an onside kick after scoring the late touchdown to make the deficit 40-35:

"A lot of consideration. Just understand everything with the timeouts and two-minute warning and all that, it just really felt like we were going to be in a good spot. Even if they got one first down, depending on when that was, we would still be able to have a good amount of time on the field. I don't think it was a matter of us being able to find guys and execute and get the ball down and score offensively, so just a matter of getting the ball back. So obviously, when it doesn't go the way you want, you always look back at second guess. Maybe we should've tried to onside kick it, but I felt good about the decision at the time, and honestly I still do right now."

On the substitution penalty where two players were wearing the same number on a punt:

"We win as a team and we lose as a team and that's all of us. We have communication and ways of making sure we're all on the same page. What we called, it required certain guys to be on the field. It did get circulated around to everyone. We're well aware of that situation and we just got to do a better job. Like I said, we win as a team and lose as a team and those are the things that really hurt you because they kept the drive alive and ended up scoring a touchdown. It was just that hump that we couldn't quite get over throughout the game and that was an early one."

On Malachi Moore's message in the locker room after being visibly heated late in the game:

"He was much better when he got in the locker room. The guy pours everything into what he does, but that doesn't make it okay. We want to be first class in everything we do and there's a lot of guys that are really frustrated. So, you know, the key is that we turn that frustration into positives moving forward, and make sure we remember what we feel here tonight and remember that tomorrow when we show up Tuesday, Wednesday and all season long. So Malachi, I'm 100 percent confident he will do that. The frustration out there comes from the work and belief he puts in. There's a couple guys that were critical from day one when I got here, that put there foot down and believed in this place, and he's certainly one of them. We're gonna continue to believe in him and he leaves it all out on the football field. Every game and every day we're practicing, he's very vocal and we need him to continue to be that way."

On time of possession inconsistencies:

"It's happened in different ways, right? It happened last week when there was that desperation for [Georgia] to continue to go for on fourth down. We were doing a good job on third down. This was a little different scenario. They just did a nice job on third down. I really don't feel like they would have probably been pressing as much, especially even score. Letting their defense go out there and do their thing. That's what they've done through the first few games that they've played is play team football and field position. They've only gone for three times all year going into the day, so we need to get off the field on third down. There's things in all phases that we could do better. We need to take care of football, and get off the field on third down. We're going to own it as a team and keep moving forward."

On what he told Jalen Milroe on the drive right before Alabama scored to cut the deficit to 40-35:

"We go through two-minute drills every week, and just keep in mind of all the scenarios. And it was something I know he was asking a lot about this week. When he and I were meeting, I just reminded him that most two-minute drills isn't about the clock, it's about running out of downs. And as much as he's going to want to push the ball on the field, and he needs to feel like he could do that because we were making plays and we were getting guys open, he needed to make sure he always understood the down and distance situation and continue to make sure we were getting first downs with five minutes to go or so. I thought he did a great job. Managed it and got us down there and scored a touchdown."

On adjusting to Vanderbilt's offense:

"I mean, that's their style. That's what they've been doing. They've been controlling it. They've been making it close. They're going to run the clock down, shorten the game. We knew that that was going to be the case, we talked about it all week long. All week I've said [Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea] has done a great job of playing team football, and that's exactly what they did. It comes down to being assignment sound, and they put you in isolated spots where one guy has to get the ball carrier down. And, they're just slippery enough, especially the quarterback, just being able to make people miss. He's a tough kid, and did a nice job. When you got to run into him, they do just enough play action and wrinkles at you to get you on the other spots with the other skill around him. Even the fourth down was probably the tough one. The touchdown that they had, I thought we had a guy there. He just threw it up in the air and spun it around, but that's what you do on fourth down when everything is covered. Hats off to them, they made a play."