Kalen DeBoer – Page 2 – Syndication Server

How Kalen DeBoer summed up Alabama’s dreadful performance against Oklahoma

Here’s what Kalen DeBoer had to say after Alabama’s brutal 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.

With a brutal 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday night in Norman, the 2024 Crimson Tide became the first Alabama football team in 14 years to lose three games in the regular season.

Nick Saban’s 2010 team lost its focus and killer instinct after a 14-0 national championship run the previous year. That 2010 team finished 10-3 overall and 9-3 in the regular season.

Kalen DeBoer’s first Alabama team will have at least three losses after one of the ugliest performances by a Crimson Tide team in years. Oklahoma’s defense made the Alabama run game all but nonexistent, holding the Tide to 70 yards on 30 carries.

Quarterback Jalen Milroe, who seemed to be playing his way back into finalist consideration for the Heisman Trophy after a rough midseason stretch, had the worst game of his Alabama career (not that his teammates were much help). Milroe was 11-of-26 for 164 yards passing and, keeping with the theme of OU’s smothering run defense, was held to seven rushing yards on 16 attempts.

Alabama’s three-touchdown loss was the program’s most lopsided defeat since the Tide were routed 44-16 by the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff Championship in January 2019.

It was also the first time an Alabama team was kept out of the end zone since a 9-6 overtime loss to the LSU Tigers in the 2011 “Game of the Century” at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

First-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer faced questions in the aftermath of such a devastating loss in a game Alabama entered as a 14-point favorite in control of its path to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Here’s everything DeBoer said in his postgame press conference with reporters.

Kalen DeBoer ‘extremely disappointed’ in Alabama football’s performance vs Oklahoma

DeBoer’s opening statement after Alabama’s loss:

“Extremely disappointed. Frustrated. We worked extremely hard, I thought, all week putting a plan together. Guys had good energy and were excited to come here on the road. We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to be better. There’s some simple things, uncharacteristic things that happened early in the game where we didn’t get the momentum on our side. And then really, it comes down to the end of the first half — them scoring a touchdown and then the turnovers really changing the momentum of the game.

“Turnovers were going to be a key. We said that coming in. We knew taking the ball off them like we did early was going to be big. In the end, it flipped the other way and we turned the ball over. Credit to (Oklahoma). They did a nice job with their game, their run game, staying on the field early. In the first half especially, I thought there were some things that continued to tweak and adjust and do a better job of against it. But obviously the game got away from us in the middle of the third quarter there.”

DeBoer on the explanation he received from officials on why Ryan Williams’ touchdown was called back

“They said it was illegal touching, so someone would have had to have been covered up. Ineligible.”

DeBoer on how Deontae Lawson injury affected Alabama’s defense

“Any time you lose a great player like Deontae, it’s going to affect you. His leadership — he is the guy that makes a lot of the calls on the football field. Just seems like he’s always in control. We have trust and belief in the guys that came in, with (Justin Jefferson) and those guys taking a lot of reps. Those guys have played a lot this year, too. But, yeah, anytime you lose any of your top players and your captains, it’s going to hurt you. Just your demeanor emotionally, but also just the execution on the field.”

What Kalen DeBoer said to Jalen Milroe after costly pick six

“I think stepping back, I just felt like early in the game there was different things. I mean, drops, just flat-out drops. Balls we lost in the lights. Just different, uncharacteristic things, weird things that happened. I thought he was actually putting the ball where he needed to. We just needed to help him out a little bit. The screen pass, they jump it and you have to assume those blocks are going to happen and you’re reading a different defender.

“Then there’s the pick six that goes the other way. I don’t know if he just didn’t see him or (if it was) a predetermined thing, but there was still a lot of game left and I felt he was fighting and battling and doing a lot of things well for our football team. We just all needed to be a little better. I thought he kept battling. I looked in his eyes and I think he’s come a long ways all season long in just the way he wants to go out there and keep leading the team. The guys kept fighting for him and that’s pretty much what I shared with him: just have no regrets. Go out there and keep swinging.”

DeBoer on players that aren’t used to losing three games and how to keep things together with Iron Bowl showdown next

“That’s the commitment that we make to each other when we come in here. When you sign up to play for Alabama, you make that commitment to each other and the brotherhood. There’s nothing in that room right now that says that there’s anyone saying it’s someone else that needs to be better. It’s win and lose as a team. We made that commitment also not just for each other, but that we’re going to finish. We’re going to finish everything we do. That is a big game next week, so we’ve got to regroup and stick together. The right things were said in there by the guys, as much as they’re hurting. Just keep playing and have pride in who we are and finish the job.”

Kalen DeBoer on Deontae Lawson’s injury status going forward

Lawson left the game with a leg injury early in the second quarter.

“It’s going to be a lower extremity injury. We’ll continue to evaluate further here when we get back.”

DeBoer on what led to Alabama’s run game struggles against Oklahoma’s defense

“I have a lot of confidence in what we can do running the football, but I also think you’ve got to credit a little bit to who (Oklahoma is) and what they do defensively. We knew it would be a physical game. Just some times where we’ve got to stay unblocked and maintain blocks. In the second half, again, the game gets away from you. Some of the things that we just maybe weren’t quite as clean on in the first half and you want to be better at, you’re not able to. And then the penalties there in the fourth quarter gets you behind the sticks as well. So, it becomes a pass-happy game to try to catch up and lengthen the game to try to give yourself a chance to win.

“But yeah, we didn’t run it as well as we had hoped to early in the game. I think it’s a little bit of both. Usually, from what I’ve seen from us, the two- or three-yard gains become four of five and then some game-breakers. And we just never got to those game-breakers because we didn’t get a chance to really hammer away enough with the normal down and distances and the normal flow of the game.”

DeBoer praises Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold, Xavier Robinson for being physical against Alabama’s defense

“That was the story for them. Those guys — inside, outside, different ways — just moving the chains and then hitting the explosives that they had. It seemed like they were always falling forward and again, there were explosive plays that they had. You’ve got to credit the toughness that they had. I think (Arnold) carried it over 20 times, both of them around that. Credit to those guys on staying with their game plan and doing what they needed to do to win.”

DeBoer demurs on how Oklahoma’s defense was able to make things tough on Jalen Milroe

Asked about what the Sooners did specifically on defense to disrupt Milroe’s game, DeBoer demurred.

“Well again, I go back to … I felt like there were some things that were pretty easy that just didn’t happen for us, too. Just short little concepts that would have moved the chains. Easy throws and catches. Some drops early that take you off the field. Some third down conversions that we missed on. An explosive play where the ball, we can’t find it. Those were some of the momentum things that early in the game kind of took the wind out of our sails. Put (Oklahoma) on the field, they kind of start churning the yards on the ground, winning the time of possession there. We just couldn’t get over the hump tonight and that’s the unfortunate thing.”

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Alabama trails Oklahoma after brutal first half in Norman

It’s been an UGLY first time for the Crimson Tide in Norman.

It’s halftime in Norman and the seventh-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide are locked in a real battle with the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma leads the Crimson Tide, 10-3, at the break.

Alabama has struggled in all three phrases of the game, with Jalen Milroe only 2-of-7 passing for 62 yards on two chunk plays — a 32-yard Germie Bernard catch and one that went for 30 yards to freshman Ryan Williams.

Williams’ grab (initially thought to be a touchdown) led to a 22-yard Graham Nicholson field goal that put Alabama on top 3-0 with 3:23 to play in the first quarter.

Early on, the Tide defense yielded two long Sooners drives into Alabama territory that ended with zero points. Afterwards, Oklahoma got on the board with a 29-yard Zach Schmit field goal midway through the second quarter to tie the game at 3-3.

Alabama had five 3rd-and-10 plays in the first half. After James Burnip muffed a punt that went for only 23 yards, Oklahoma took five-plus minutes to drive 67 yards for the lead, capped by an 18-yard Xavier Robinson touchdown with 37 seconds left.

In a huge loss for the Tide, Alabama will be without star linebacker Deontae Lawson for the rest of the night. Lawson left the game with a leg injury with around 12 minutes to play in the second quarter.

At intermission, Oklahoma has more than doubled up Alabama in total yards: 242 to 97. Alabama ran just 23 offensive plays in the first half. The Sooners had the ball for 17:41 to the Tide’s 12:19.

There’s a lot of football still to play, but nothing has gone right for the Crimson Tide so far in Norman.

How Alabama football can get to the SEC Championship Game, explained

Explaining Alabama’s path to the SEC Championship Game with only two games left in the regular season.

Entering Week 13 of the 2024 college football season, none of the Power Four conference championship games on Dec. 7 have been set in stone. That’s especially true for the SEC title game.

Contrast this to a year ago when the Alabama Crimson Tide clinched a spot in the SEC Championship Game with a 49-21 rout of the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field (Commonwealth Stadium) in Lexington on Nov. 11. The Georgia Bulldogs, who were in the midst of a third consecutive unbeaten regular season, clinched their spot in the SEC title game that same day.

Things are a lot different this year with expanded leagues that no longer feature divisions. In the summer of 2023, the SEC and Big Ten announced within a week of one another that they would both do away with the division format beginning in 2024. The ACC abandoned division play beginning last year.

Now, as Alabama (8-2 overall, 4-2 SEC) prepares to face the Oklahoma Sooners (5-5, 1-5) in prime time Saturday night, as many as five SEC teams still have a path to Atlanta. Those five teams are the Crimson Tide, the Texas Longhorns (5-1 SEC), the Texas A&M Aggies (5-1), Georgia (6-2), and the Ole Miss Rebels (4-2).

Some teams have simpler paths than others, though, and on Friday USA TODAY Sports columnist Paul Myerberg laid out the path to reach Atlanta for each of the five SEC title game contenders.

Alabama football has clear path to SEC Championship Game

Alabama has appeared in the SEC Championship Game more times than any other team since the game’s inception in 1992. The Crimson Tide have a slight lead over the Florida Gators in that category with 15 trips to Atlanta — and previously Birmingham’s Legion Field — to the Gators’ 13.

Getting to a record 16th SEC title game will happen if the Crimson Tide don’t slip up against either Oklahoma this week or in the Iron Bowl against the Auburn Tigers next Saturday.

Per Myerberg:

“Alabama is the winner in the case of a four-way tie for second involving teams with two league losses. Should A&M finish 7-1, the Crimson Tide would advance to meet the Aggies by virtue of owning the best conference opponent winning percentage in conference play. Heading into Saturday, Alabama’s opponents are a combined 27-26 in the SEC, ahead of the Bulldogs (23-28), Volunteers (23-28), Rebels (22-33) and Longhorns (21-32).”

How Alabama could squander SEC title game, put CFP hopes in jeopardy

What happens if Alabama does slip up against either the Sooners or Auburn in the final two weeks? The short answer: nothing good.

Georgia has already wrapped up SEC play with its 31-17 win over Tennessee last Saturday. A third SEC loss by Alabama would spell doom for the Tide’s SEC title hopes, as well as put a big dent in their CFP hopes with three losses, as well.

Myerberg explains:

“One loss would eliminate the Tide. In that case, Georgia would meet the winner of Texas and A&M. That’s because the Bulldogs would have a better record against common opponents than Ole Miss and would have head-to-head tiebreakers against Tennessee and Texas.”

There’s been a lot of talk and confusion about tiebreakers this year, what with the new wrinkles of conference realignment/expansion and abandoning the division format, but the bottom line is that Alabama just needs to keep winning. The rest will take care of itself.

Kickoff for Alabama vs. Oklahoma is set for 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be televised on ABC.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions.

College football experts update Alabama football Playoff fate ahead of new CFP rankings

Here’s where college football writers and pundits see Alabama in the College Football Playoff picture before Tuesday’s updated CFP rankings.

Many things are still up in the air heading into Week 13 of the college football season, including the SEC Championship Game picture where it appears Alabama football is on track to meet the Texas Longhorns at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 7.

Alabama moved up two spots to No. 7 in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll after a 52-7 win over Mercer last Saturday. Jalen Milroe played for two quarters and change, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for one more. Milroe was 11-of-16 for 186 yards through the air and rushed six times for 43 yards.

The Crimson Tide got big games from freshman sensation Ryan Williams, senior tight end Robbie Ouzts, and many others en route to compiling 508 yards of total offense.

Alabama is 8-2 overall and sits at 4-2 in SEC play entering its final two regular season games. Kalen DeBoer’s team is hot at the right time, and they’re hoping to not only reach the College Football Playoff but make a deep run in the 12-team field once there.

The Crimson Tide were No. 10 in last week’s CFP rankings. The new rankings will be unveiled Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

In the meantime, here’s what national college football writers and others in the sport’s media universe are saying about Alabama’s Playoff chances — and who they might face.

Expect Alabama to move up again in new CFP rankings

ESPN’s Heather Dinich ($) sees Alabama moving up in the rankings for the second straight week after debuting at No. 11 in the initial rankings. That would move Alabama into the No. 9 seed. Dinich projects Notre Dame to move up one spot, as well, to the No. 8 seed.

Dinich said of Alabama and Notre Dame:

“As an independent, Notre Dame can only earn one of the seven at-large bids because the five other spots are guaranteed to conference champions. That means the Irish can’t get a first-round bye, but they can get a home game, which happens in this scenario. This is arguably the most difficult part of the bracket because the winner has to play the No. 1 team in the country, and the (Oregon) Ducks will have been resting.”

CFP experts project new SEC champion entering Week 13

There’s a common theme among many college football analysts in their updated Playoff predictions entering this week: the Alabama Crimson Tide are their new projected SEC champion.

USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith sees Alabama as SEC champions, a week after he had the Crimson Tide in as an at-large berth.

Smith breaks down what’s changed since last week:

“Usually playing against Mercer doesn’t result in a team improving its College Football Playoff seeding. But this week’s bowl projections see Alabama rise into the No. 2 spot in the field as the Crimson Tide are forecasted as the SEC champions.

“The team Alabama replaces is Texas. While the Longhorns beat Arkansas, there are questions whether they can defeat both Texas A&M and the Crimson Tide away from home to secure the conference title. And the lack of quality wins on the Texas resume means its seeding slot should fall behind other contenders Georgia and Mississippi.”

Likewise, CBS Sports prognosticator Jerry Palm favors the Crimson Tide to win the SEC in his updated Playoff bracket and projections. Palm sees Alabama as the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff and playing its first 12-team CFP game in the Sugar Bowl.

Veteran college football writer Andy Staples also favors Alabama to win the SEC in his new College Football Playoff projections. Staples sees the Crimson Tide earning the No. 2 seed behind the top-seeded Oregon Ducks. He cautions that Alabama still needs to be on “high alert” in its final two regular-season games against Oklahoma this Saturday and against Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 30.

Over at The Athletic ($), Stewart Mandel and Scott Dochterman see Alabama winning the SEC to get the No. 2 seed, as well. The two have the Crimson Tide facing the winner of a No. 10 vs. No. 7 seed game between Indiana and Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens. Ohio State was the duo’s projected No. 1 seed.

At-large berth in 12-team CFP wouldn’t spell doom for Alabama football

Over at 247Sports, analyst Brad Crawford favors Texas to win the SEC. But Crawford has much higher expectations for Alabama than just making the Playoff. He favors Alabama to go all the way to the College Football Playoff Championship (national title game).

To do so, he takes Alabama to win a first-round Playoff game against Notre Dame in South Bend, as well as a win over ACC champion Miami in the quarterfinal round in the Peach Bowl. From there, it’s on to the Orange Bowl for a rematch against the Georgia Bulldogs. Crawford sees Alabama beating the Dawgs to set up a CFP title game clash with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Explains Crawford:

“Could the Crimson Tide run the table with Jalen Milroe and get to the finale as a possible double-digit seed? This is what makes the expanded playoff so unique — hot teams move on. Ohio State is the projected 1-seed here because we’re expecting the Buckeyes to get the better of Oregon in the Big Ten title game and then potentially beat the Ducks again in the playoff. That would be huge for Ryan Day.”

In his updated Playoff forecast, The Sporting News’ Bill Bender also sees Alabama facing Notre Dame in South Bend in the No. 9 vs. No. 8 seed first-round matchup. He sees Alabama winning that game, then beating Oregon in the Rose Bowl before falling to Ohio State in the semifinals in the Orange Bowl.

Notes Bender:

“(Ohio State’s) matchup with Alabama would be fitting, considering that was a semifinal in the first College Football Playoff in 2014.”

Lastly, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura ($) also have the Tide as an at-large team in the Playoff, with Texas as their projected SEC champion. Both ESPN scribes have Alabama winning a first-round game and then falling to Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

How to watch new CFP rankings for Alabama football fans: Time, live stream, TV channel

Tuesday night’s new CFP rankings will offer an updated look at the playoff picture and bracket for Alabama football. Here’s how to watch the rankings.

Alabama Crimson Tide fans won’t want to miss this week’s updated College Football Playoff rankings reveal.

As expected, Alabama football won its annual “FCS Week” game against Mercer — though it did come against a Bears team that is ranked No. 9 in the latest FCS Coaches Poll.

Moreover, two teams ranked ahead of the Crimson Tide in last week’s CFP rankings lost over the weekend. The BYU Cougars fell 17-13 in an upset loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, and the Tennessee Volunteers lost 31-17 to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Alabama (8-2) stands to benefit from those teams’ losses in both the actual CFP rankings as well as in terms of seeding. Last week, the selection committee’s seeding would have had the Crimson Tide taking on the Indiana Hoosiers in a first-round game in Bloomington.

Here is how you can watch the latest College Football Playoff rankings show Tuesday night.

How to watch College Football Playoff rankings show

TV Channel: ESPN

[afflinkbutton text=”Watch CFP rankings reveal live on Fubo (free trial)” link=”https://www.fubo.tv/welcome/leagues/191261?irad=399332&irmp=1205322&subId1=SMG&subId2=NCAAF&subId3=2024″]

College Football Playoff rankings release date:

Date: Tuesday, November 19, 2024

What time is CFP rankings release?

Start Time: 6 p.m. CT

Alabama football CFP rankings projection

Alabama moved up to the No. 10 seed in last week’s rankings. If the Crimson Tide are on the move again this week, look for them in the No. 8-9 range.

How many teams are in College Football Playoff 2024?

Yes, for the first time, there will be 12 teams participating in the College Football Playoffs — five automatic bids for each of the Power Four conference champions, and one to the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. The remaining seven slots are given to at-large teams.

How does the College Football Playoff format work?

The top four seeds will have a bye when the CFP kicks off. The next four highest-seeded teams will host on-campus playoff games as follows:

No. 5 vs No. 12, winner will play No. 4
No. 6 vs No. 11, winner will play No. 3
No. 7 vs No. 10, winner will play No. 2
No. 8 vs No. 9, winner will play No. 1

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions.

Alabama climbs in new US LBM Coaches Poll and jumps past these teams

Take a look at how far Alabama climbed in the new US LBM Coaches Poll after two teams ranked ahead of them lost Saturday.

Alabama football moved up in the new Week 12 US LBM Coaches Poll Sunday after a convincing win over Mercer and after two teams ranked ahead of the Crimson Tide lost over the weekend.

Alabama (8-2 overall, 4-2 SEC) moved up two spots to No. 7 in the new Coaches Poll after their 52-7 win over Mercer and after the BYU Cougars (9-1) suffered their first loss of the season in a 17-13 upset at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks in Provo.

Tennessee (8-2) also fell, 31-17 to the Georgia Bulldogs (8-2) in Athens, causing the Crimson Tide to jump past the Vols. Tennessee and BYU suffered the biggest drops in this week’s poll. Both fell seven spots; the Volunteers are ranked No. 11 while BYU is No. 15.

Alabama remained the highest-ranked two-loss team in the poll and are ranked one spot below No. 6 Notre Dame and one spot ahead of No. 8 Georgia. Jalen Milroe and the Crimson Tide visit the Oklahoma Sooners in Week 13 at Gaylord Family – Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be seen on ABC.

The Oregon Ducks (11-0) remained No. 1 for the fifth straight week after surviving a close call against the Wisconsin Badgers in a 16-13 win at Camp Randall. The Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1) stayed at No. 2 after beating Northwestern, 31-7, in a game played at Wrigley Field.

The Texas Longhorns (9-1) stayed at No. 3 after their 20-10 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks. Penn State (9-1) took Tennessee’s former spot at No. 4.

The Indiana Hoosiers (No. 5, 10-0) moved into the top five of the Coaches Poll for the first time this year. Indiana had a bye over the weekend and will head to Columbus to take on Ohio State in a huge Big Ten contest next Saturday.

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels (8-2) moved into the top 10 at No. 9 while the Miami Hurricanes (9-1) rose two spots to No. 10. Ole Miss had a bye Saturday and will face the Florida Gators in Gainesville in Week 13. Miami also had a bye and will host Wake Forest Saturday.

Full Week 12 US LBM Coaches Poll

Rank	Team	Record	Points
1	Oregon Ducks	11-0	1,375 (55)
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	9-1	1,316
3	Texas Longhorns	9-1	1,263
4	Penn State Nittany Lions	9-1	1,158
5	Indiana Hoosiers	10-0	1,109
6	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	9-1	1096
7	Alabama Crimson Tide	8-2	996
8	Georgia Bulldogs	8-2	993
9	Ole Miss Rebels	8-2	984
10	Miami Hurricanes	9-1	847
11	Tennessee Volunteers	8-2	823
12	SMU Mustangs	9-1	744
13	Boise State Broncos	9-1	714
14	Texas A&M Aggies	8-2	646
15	BYU Cougars	9-1	633
16	Clemson Tigers	8-2	569
17	Army Black Knights	9-0	509
18	Colorado Buffaloes	8-2	464
19	South Carolina Gamecocks	7-3	379
20	Tulane Green Wave	9-2	280
21	Iowa State Cyclones	8-2	268
22	Arizona State Sun Devils	8-2	251
23	UNLV Rebels	8-2	93
24	Memphis Tigers	9-2	77
25	Kansas State Wildcats	7-3	67

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 Washington State; No. 21 Missouri; No. 22 LSU; No. 24 Louisville;

Others Receiving Votes

Washington State 65; Illinois 56; Missouri 44; Syracuse 18; James Madison 11; Duke 9; Pittsburgh 7; Louisiana 5; Louisville 2; Vanderbilt 1; Sam Houston 1; LSU 1; Colorado State 1;

Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama football defeated Mercer

Kalen DeBoer talks about the play of Robbie Ouzts, Jihaad Campbell and more after the Crimson Tide’s 52-7 win over Mercer.

Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer was all smiles after the Crimson Tide’s 52-7 win over Mercer at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday.

Alabama (8-2) got out to a 28-0 lead behind two touchdown passes from Jalen Milroe, who got freshman sensation Ryan Williams involved early in the Tide’s Week 12 victory. Williams had a 14-yard touchdown catch and also scored Alabama’s first points on a 29-yard jet sweep.

Tight end Robbie Ouzts was left open on a broken assignment for a 44-yard touchdown, and the Crimson Tide had their first non-offensive touchdown of the season when Zabien Brown scooped up a Mercer fumble and returned it 68 yards to the end-zone.

Alabama finished with 508 yards of offense and 29 first downs en route to emptying its bench and using three different quarterbacks behind Milroe: backup Ty Simpson and freshmen Dylan Lonergan and Austin Mack.

Afterwards, DeBoer spoke to the media and said that he thought the team had the right mindset heading into the game after such a big road win last week against LSU in Baton Rouge.

Here’s what DeBoer said in his postgame press conference.

“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 hit where you get the one’s the work and you get the score where you need it to be. 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. So, I like that we got three more takeaways. I think there’s a mindset about our defense and three of the first four possessions to do that, I 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, we had a field goal there and would love to score in the red zone and get a touchdown but for the most part, again, taking care of the football, no turnovers and getting the takeaways, that’s where it all starts. Guys worked hard all week long. Thought they really had a good demeanor about them. They’re working on themselves individually to one, build on what we did a week ago and go into the tail end of the season here, I think relatively healthy as far as who played today and no one getting seriously dinged up before next week.”

DeBoer on what Robbie Ouzts means to Alabama’s offense

“He’s kind of a Swiss Army knife out there for us, 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 successful with it. No. 1 at the FCS level in run defense but (there were) some play actions there that we got behind him on.

“For Robbie to haul one in, that was very exciting for our guys and very exciting for him. I love to see it. He got a chance as a senior to talk to the team last night. and you could just tell the love our team has for him and how much they appreciate the effort he brings each and every day; not just every week. He’s got a mindset and a toughness about him that just exudes what Alabama football is all about.”

DeBoer talks about playing four quarterbacks and what he thought of their performance

“Ty with some scrambles, kind of the long one along our sideline. I think people probably know Ty and have watched him, probably all of you, you can see that he’s got that ability. He can do things with his feet. Everyone gets tied into Jalen and what he can do with his feet and his running ability, but Ty is tough to handle when it comes to running the football, too. Escaping, making some plays, the fourth down throwing it deep, if it’s picked off, it’s picked off. So, smart just to give him a chance and find a way to make plays.

“And I thought Dylan and Austin coming in and moving the chains — Dylan on a fourth down conversion, then Austin coming in and laying the ball in there along the left sideline for a touchdown. Again, there’s that fine window of trying to let these guys run the offense and get that experience and opportunity to work on what they do each and every day. I was proud of the way they handled everything to the execution and just the procedural things where making sure guys are lined up before we motion them and all that stuff. I thought it was a good day for all of them as a whole.”

DeBoer on how big it was to get Alabama’s first non-offensive touchdown

“Those are exciting. The guys talk about it and when they come up short and think they had a chance to score, they always hear about, ‘You should have kept it along this sideline or cut back.’ For us to get (Zabien Brown) into the end-zone with that long return, that’s something that’s exciting for the whole team. Because we’ve gotten the takeaways, we just haven’t had one end up with one in the end-zone like that. So, I love the mindset. Again, 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 and getting points on the board now, too, it’s really good.”

DeBoer explains why he wanted first-team defense to play longer than the offense heading into fourth quarter

“Well I think first of all, there’s a lot of guys rotating in on defense to begin with, so there’s a lot of young guys that we already have on the football field with the one’s, and there’s less experience when you put the two’s out there. A lot of that one and two is in the rotation up front and in the secondary. And the score isn’t completely lopsided, and when you start putting your next guys in with your offense, you want to be careful just to make sure that the game can stay and nothing crazy happens.

“I know that probably none of you felt like it was in jeopardy, but those are just things that you want to be careful of and make sure you can get through the third quarter and into the fourth. But again, we play a lot of guys already before you even get to substituting there in the latter part of the game.”

DeBoer on what he saw from Alabama in its focus and intensity to avoid a letdown against Mercer

“As we get to the latter half of the season, we’ve really honed in on more and more leaders stepping up. Taking care of yourself, own what you do, take care of that and bring someone else with you. The intensity in practice, it’s not like guys are flying off the walls 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 the business there and that leads to the success they had.

“But when they do those things right and you invest, investing in improving yourself and improving your team, that’s what I thought they did. I know some of the upperclassmen were talking about how much they appreciate the young guys and how happy we 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 is happy for team.”

DeBoer on the improvement and intensity that linebacker Jihaad Campbell brings

“That’s a great example of how you don’t have to have the ‘C’ to be a leader and Jihaad is exactly that. He’s been a leader for us ever since I can remember. I’ve counted on him and I go to him expecting big things in that leadership. He can run and it starts there, but I think the more he just plays ball and 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. You know, he’s feeling it and there’s confidence you can see coming out in the playmaking ability. And 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.”

Here’s everything else DeBoer said at his postgame press conference Saturday:

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Alabama rolls in dominant 52-7 win over Mercer to set up final stretch run

The Alabama Crimson Tide finished strong in the second half of a 52-7 victory over the Mercer Bears Saturday. Here’s how it happened.

The No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide finished strong in a 52-7 win over the Mercer Bears Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama improved to 8-2 overall before its final two games of the regular season. Kalen DeBoer’s team heads to Norman next Saturday to face the Oklahoma Sooners before closing out the year with their Iron Bowl matchup against the Auburn Tigers in Tuscaloosa.

After jumping out to a 31-7 lead at halftime — a start in which the Tide got two big touchdowns from freshman sensation Ryan Williams and an impressive performance from quarterback Jalen Milroe — Alabama kept its foot on the gas to open the second half.

The Crimson Tide started the third quarter strong by driving 67 yards in 4:27 to take a 38-7 lead. Milroe hit Germie Bernard on a play that went for 23 yards to the Mercer 21-yard line, and Justice Haynes ran 12 yards for a first and goal at the Bears’ 3. Milroe eventually finished off a 10-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

That would mark the end of Milroe’s day. He finished 11-of-16 for 186 yards and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Milroe ran six times for 43 yards before backup Ty Simpson took over.

Simpson showed off his wheels on his first series with a 13-yard scramble on a 3rd and 11 play from Alabama’s 27-yard line.

Early in the fourth quarter, Simpson pulled off a pass reminiscent of Eli Manning’s Super Bowl escape against the New England Patriots in 2008 when he avoided a sack and hit tight end Josh Cuevas for a 43-yard gain and a first and goal at the 1.

Richard Young finished off the drive with his first career touchdown run for a 45-7 lead with 12:54 to play in the game. Simpson was 5-of-10 for 71 yards, plus the 13-yard scramble.

Alabama used two more backup quarterbacks, giving freshmen Dylan Lonergan and Washington transfer Austin Mack some snaps. Lonergan was 5-of-6 for 23 yards. He hit Ty Lockwood on a well-thrown short pass for a five-yard gain and a first down.

Mack, the fourth quarterback of the day, connected with fellow freshman Rico Scott for a 31-yard touchdown with 3:36 left for Alabama’s final score of the afternoon. Mack’s touchdown to Scott capped a 16-play, 79-yard drive that took 7:43 off the clock.

Alabama finished the day with an 508 yards of total offense (319 passing, 189 rushing) and 29 first downs.

Alabama vs Oklahoma Week 13 kickoff, TV info announced

The Crimson Tide will face the Oklahoma Sooners next Saturday night at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Alabama news and notes, plus opinions.

Jalen Milroe, Alabama offense stay hot in explosive first half against Mercer

Alabama leads Mercer, 31-7, at halftime after a BIG first half from Jalen Milroe, Ryan Williams and the Crimson Tide offense.

It’s halftime at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and the No. 9 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide are rolling against the Mercer Bears.

At the break, Alabama leads Mercer, 31-7. Here’s how the Crimson Tide have built their big lead at intermission.

After Domani Jackson forced a fumble that Damon Payne Jr. recovered on Mercer’s first drive, Alabama took over at its 48-yard line.

The Crimson Tide wasted no time finding the end-zone on their first possession. Freshman phenom Ryan Williams took a jet sweep 29 yards to the outside to give Alabama a 7-0 lead just over four minutes in after Graham Nicholson added the extra point.

Jalen Milroe and the offense needed only four plays and 1:16 off the clock to drive 52 yards for the opening touchdown.

Williams struck again on Alabama’s next series, making a 17-yard reception for a first down before taking a drop-off from Milroe and going 14 yards for his second touchdown of the first quarter. That made it 14-0 with 4:08 left in the opening period. The Crimson Tide drove 89 yards on nine plays and used 4:21 off the clock.

Mercer drove into Alabama territory twice in the first quarter but turned the ball over both times. Late in the quarter, Qua Russaw made an interception off a tipped pass to give the Tide the ball at their 32-yard line.

Alabama finished the drive early in the second quarter when a wide-open Robbie Ouzts hauled in a perfect pass from Milroe for a 44-yard touchdown and a 21-0 Crimson Tide lead. It was a seven-play, 68-yard drive. Milroe was 7-of-8 for 107 yards and two touchdowns to that point.

Mercer hit a long pass for 43 yards to Javarius George, who fumbled at the end on a well-timed hit from DaShawn Jones. True freshman Zabien Brown scooped it and ran 68 yards for a 28-0 Alabama lead with 8:45 to play in the half.

Mercer scored its only points of the first half with 1:58 to play when quarterback Whitt Newbauer threw a perfect pass to Kendall Harris, who made a sensational grab for a 31-yard touchdown.

On Alabama’s first play from scrimmage on its ensuing possession, Milroe hit Germie Bernard for 45 yards to the Mercer 30-yard line. That led to a perfect 45-yard Nicholson field goal to put the Tide ahead, 31-7, with 55 seconds to go before halftime.

At halftime, Alabama has 254 yards of total offense and 13 first downs. Milroe started 8-of-9 and finished the half 9-of-14 for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Milroe also had four rushes for 36 yards in the first half, including a 16-yard carry.

Williams’ three plays (two catches, one rush) have totaled 60 yards and resulted in two touchdowns.

It’s been a good day for the Alabama offense.

Kalen DeBoer gives injury update for starting Alabama offensive lineman

The starting offensive lineman went down with an injury Saturday.

Another noteworthy injury that occurred during Saturday night’s win inside Tiger Stadium for the Alabama Crimson Tide was to starting right guard Jaeden Roberts.

A prominent name among Alabama’s offensive line, Roberts has been one of the top right guards in the SEC so far this season, and is a key player when it comes to the Crimson Tide running the ball.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer also recently commented on the status of Roberts as well, doing so as part of his weekly Wednesday night talk show “Hey Coach,” saying:

“He could have come back, and we just didn’t want to push it,” DeBoer said. “He’s working through the week and doing everything he can to get on the football field Saturday. I think it’s promising that he’ll be available, ready to go in some capacity.”

Should the starting right guard potentially be unavailable Saturday against Mercer, then versatile offensive lineman Geno VanDeMark would likely be favored to start for Roberts.