What Kalen DeBoer Said After Defeating the Georgia Bulldogs

The Alabama coach met with the media after securing the first SEC win of his career in emphatic fashion.

Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) and head coach Kalen DeBoer talk during a timeout in the first quarter against the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / William McLelland-Imagn Images

The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs to open SEC play in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night 41-34. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media after the game to talk about what the Crimson Tide did wrong and how they can still improve after the positive result.

Full transcript from Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer:

Opening Statement:

"Yeah, heck of a game. I lost my voice there a little bit, obviously. A lot happening, all game long. A lot of energy that was put out there by coaches and players. Proud of the way we played. It took four quarters and obviously there were some times where they made a run there in the second half in particular. Proud of the way our guys kept fighting, kept playing. I think we continued to learn every single play and grow and you see that at the end with ZB's interception. Guy saw it a couple times, them throwing the ball up in the air and really just laying it up there and sometimes underthrowing it, just in great position. That would certainly look different with how he was playing it, there's reasons for that, but certainly with how he was playing it and in a position where he had as good of a chance to make a play on the ball as anyone and did it. These guys are fun to coach every single day because they're just wanting to get better.

"Highlighted Ryan, obviously with the big play he had and the touchdown. Two number twos out there, two freshmen. It was fun celebrating those guys in the locker room. Our team loves the way that they work every day. Tip the cap to Georgia. They're a heck of a football team. We pushed each other to the very end so I can't say how proud I am of our guys. We talk about you get what you deserve and these guys come to practice every single day, they're in the weight room. Any opportunity where we're asking them to do something they're all over it and they're doing it at an extremely high level. We expect to win games, these games. Of course the locker room's full of excitement, but I also want to make sure we understand that's the expectation and there's a lot of season left and so we want to make sure we don't blow all our energy into this win, make sure we can handle success and get ready for next week."

What does it say about Ryan Williams and Zabien Brown that two freshmen made game-winning plays?

"Yeah, it says a lot. It says mentally that they're well ahead of their time. They've played enough snaps now to where there's a belief that not only that they have in themselves, but we all do and we see it in practice. They're playmakers. They battle, they grind. They were tired, they played a lot of snaps, each of them. A lot of running, but they're true as far as what we ask and grinding four quarters and need them to the very end. They earned that stripe down the middle of the helmet, that's for sure."

What did you think of Jalen Milroe's performance?

"Yeah, he was, I think, exceptional. I didn't want to jump the gun, but I really felt like the last couple weeks. It starts with the Wisconsin game where he got into a little bit of rhythm, made those plays. We still didn't have enough opportunities, really. He threw it 17 times or something like that but you can see him taking that step from Week 2 to Week 3. The offensive line, I think, is doing a good job, for the most part, of really protecting him and he's thinking about where he's going to go with the ball. It doesn't mean he's perfect, but man, he's a weapon out there. He's doing it both through the air and with his feet. He's tough to gameplan against when you're on the other side. When he needed to put the ball somewhere, I really felt like his accuracy and that goes to his timing and the rhythm, the confidence and the belief that he has in his receivers and whoever's catching the pass. And not everyone goes, there's a couple times where we actually let him down. We let him down and didn't have a couple guys run exactly what they were supposed to do and it looks kind of fuzzy and you're wondering what the heck's going on. It's a credit, I felt like, just mentally, he kept staying the course and that he continues to grow in all ways, not just as a football player, but as a leader as well."

You threw out of empty and caught them off guard, how did you adjust?

"Yeah, we hit the one to Ryan in the third quarter and he made this kind of circus catch. There was more of that. We've done it throughout the season, I mean, we've done it throughout the season but there was certainly a heavier dose of that. I really felt like when we went empty Jalen did a good job of seeing the space, seeing the coverages and that's what I love because we have a lot of playmakers out there and sometimes just getting the ball in their hands. You know, there's adjustments going back and forth. They did a nice job with some things and then we had to counter back as well."

What about the emotional rollercoaster to be up big and have it get tight?

"Yeah, you know when you face a really good football team you know there's going to be a strong push. That's what I would expect from us if we were ever in a spot, we're going to fight to the very end and I expect our guys to go make plays. Sometimes when they're, in their situation really on their heels and really just throwing it up and you know, that urgency that they needed to have and a couple plays go your way and those are the sparks and they did a nice job converting on fourth downs. I think that was really the story in the second half is those fourth down calls and fourth down plays. If we get one or two of those really the game is much different in the second half. Those are the battles. We know that that's what each and every week is going to be. People are going to bring their best shot to us and that's the SEC. So, again, proud of our guys and the way they kept responding. It wasn't like the next play was, or the next drive was always perfect, but we did play team football and I thought covered for each other. We got some takeaways, got a field goal, special teams did a nice job there. Of course, there were some letdowns and we all saw what some of those were too."

What happened to Kendrick Law?

"Yeah he just got a lower body injury. I don't know what he'll be, but it was unfortunate because I thought he really had a great week or two of practice and kept building too and put a lot and he was really juiced up before the game. I thought he was doing some good things as far as just helping our offense. It might not be things that show up on the stat sheet so unfortunately, he wasn't able to be there with us throughout the whole game."

What does the answer at the end say about your team?

"Yeah, we talked about it on Sunday. There were some games last week, our guys had a BYE week and they watched a lot of football. We talked about how there's some last-second plays and you've got to keep fighting and keep playing. The game, with our talent is going to keep coming back to us even when it feels like it's running away from us. That belief from tonight is something we will certainly make sure and be intentional on remembering because those are the things that are going to happen again. We're going to have to do the same thing at some point throughout the season. You never know, it might be sooner than later. Guys being ready for when their opportunity comes. We've talked a lot about that during fall camp, I reminded them before the game. I thought guys were ready when their opportunity came and went and made a play and that's what we're going to need."

What did you see from Jalen Milroe after Georgia took the lead?

"Yeah, he put the ball where he needed to. I think its one of the areas I felt he really improved. That throw and the location of that throw? That was intentional. I really will say that strongly because that's one of the areas that we worked on. If you saw the first couple games where some of those fades were thrown and that's an improvement. That's not just him, that's the receivers also being on the same page with him. So it doesn't always fall on Jalen's lap with some of those plays that we had earlier in the year. You saw Ryan catch the touchdown against Wisconsin. You saw a couple of those things starting to happen and he took the next step. Guys don't always have to be wide open right now. You saw him throwing guys open and the receivers anticipating that hey I'm going to get the ball. That's progress in our passing game. We keep doing those things we're going to be tough to defend."

Ryan Williams, how special is he?

"Yeah, he's involved and I still feel - I think we threw it to 10 or 11 guys today and that's going to be the key is that everyone is still involved so that attention can't solely be on him. He's a guy, those are some of the plays, some of the ones he's had early in the season he was very open. There were reasons why he was very open but there was reasons why he was very open, just a subtle understanding of timing and where the ball and what the concept was, where the ball was going to be thrown. Now you see some of the playmaking that I know we saw during fall camp where they're competitive catches and that happened a couple of times tonight. I think the thing I'm probably more impressed with, which I knew he was going to bring, but it's what he's doing after the catch too. It's not surprising, but it's certainly impressive and when you practice every day against each other and you have a couple scrimmages you get a couple chances, but he's doing it over and over again, getting the ball in his hands and making people miss, a lot of yards after catch, yards after contact. He's a special player. The most impressive thing also with that is how he just handles success and he's going to be back to work and be the same guy on Tuesday and the same guy tomorrow when we show up and do our workouts and so that's what I think our team really sees in him. The upperclassmen I know have noticed that from day one."

Was the thought to go deep on play one after falling behind?

"Jalen and I have talked a lot. This isn't just this week. It's been since day one about never having regrets and so competing to the very end and really that's what I want our team to do, but we talk about that a lot and staying positive and keep fighting and sometimes the ball doesn't bounce the way. It doesn't mean you lose the game, but sometimes a play doesn't end up with the way you wanted and you've got to keep fighting. When it comes to the concept, a lot of our plays have opportunities where you find that one-on-one and if you like the matchup, you go after it. He liked what he saw obviously and delivered and Ryan did the rest for him. A lot of our concepts have shots built in, but also some other elements to the passing game where you're looking still to have a high completion percentage. I think that's the one thing that jumped out at me. I don't know what 27 of 33 is it's got to be 80-plus percent. So that's what I love to see. If we can be over 65, that's positive steps and he's well above that."

Did ya'll silence the doubters?

"Yeah, that's some stuff internally that we know if you have a matchup like this there's going to be people that believe one thing or another. Is this a mismatch, this position against that position. That "Lank" is for the team aspect but it's also a position group or individual side of the ball. Our guys, I think, do a great job of just having that edge to them that comes along with that mentality. I'm proud of them because they understand that edge but they keep the confidence and they don't do it in an arrogant way. I appreciate the way they come to work. That's what you can really see that translates to the opportunities and a win like we had tonight."

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• Did you silence doubters: That's some stuff internally. We know if you have a matchup like this people are going to believe one thing or another. That "Lank" is for the team aspect but it's also for a position group or individual. Our guys do a good job having that edge to them but they keep up their confidence too.

• Was the thought to go deep right there at the end: Jalen and I have talked a lot, not just this week but since day one. Never having regrets and competing to the end. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way and a play doesn't end up the way you wanted and you've got to keep fighting. A lot of our plays have opportunities to find a one-on-one and if you like the matchup, you go after it. He liked what he saw and delivered and Ryan did the rest for him.

• On Ryan Williams: Yeah, he's involved. I think we threw it to 10 or 11 guys today so everyone is invovled so that attention can't just be on him. There are reasons why he's open. Understanding of timing and concepts, now you see some of the playmaking we saw in fall camp. I think the thing I'm more impressed with is what he's doing after the catch. It's not surprising but it's certainly impressive. He's a special player and he handles success and he'll be the same guy tomorrow and Tuesday as he has been.

• On leadership from Jalen Milroe: He put the ball where he needed to on the final pass. That's one of the areas he's really improved. That throw and placement of it was very intentional. It was one of the areas we've worked on. You saw from the first three games where the fade was thrown, that was an improvement. Guys don't have to be wide open right now, he's throwing some guys open.

• On resilience: We talked about how there's some last second plays and you've just got to keep fighting and keep working. That belief from tonight is something we'll make sure to be intentional on remembering.

• On Kendrick Law: He just got a lower body injury. Unfortunate for him because he had a really great week of practice. I thought he was doing a lot of good things to help our offense.

• On the emotional roller coaster: You know when you face a good team there's going to be a strong push. That's what I expect from us if we were down, to fight to the end. Sometimes you just start throwing it up and looking for some sparks. They did a nice job converting on fourth down that was really what it came down to. Those are the battles and we know that's the SEC. Proud of our guys for the way they kept responding. We did play team football and covered for each other. There were some let downs and we all saw those too.

• On throwing out of empty: We had the one to Ryan in the third quarter. There was more of that. We've done it throughout the season, but we had a heavier dose of that. When we went empty Jalen did a good job seeing the space and seeing the coverage.

• On Jalen Milroe: It started the last few weeks with the Wisconsin game, but you could see him take the step from Week 2 to Week 3. The offensive line has done a good job protecting him. He's thinking about where he wants to go with the ball and he's a weapon with both his arm and his feet. There were a couple times where we let him down where a couple guys didn't run what they were supposed to. It's a credit to him mentally for staying the course.

• On Zabien and Ryan Williams: It says mentally, they're well ahead of their time. They've played enough snaps now to where there's a belief in their ability. They were tired, played a lot of snaps, each of them, a lot of running. They grinded and we needed them to till the end.

Kalen DeBoer Opening Statement:

• Heck of a game. I lost my voice out there. I'm proud of the way we played. It took four quarters. They made a run there in the fourth quarter and I'm proud of the guys for continuing to fight and learn.
• Proud of ZB for making an adjustment and making a play there at the end.
• These guys are fun to coach every single day.
• Two number twos out there. Two freshman. Its a fun group to coach.
• Tip the cap to Georgia, they're a heck of a football team. We pushed each other as hard as we could.
• We tell our guys they get what they deserve and they come to the weight room and the practice field every day.
• We expect to win these games. Of course the locker room's full of excitement but we want to make sure that it's known that this is the expectation.

This article will be updated with a full transcript as well as video from Coach Kalen DeBoer =