Kalen DeBoer reveals what turned the tide in Alabama’s favor after starting slow against Vanderbilt
It’s clear that Alabama is playing with some new found swagger.
There was a moment when the Alabama Crimson Tide were down 14-7 against Vanderbilt on Saturday, where every supporter of the crimson & white held their breath and thought to themselves, “here we go again.”
Over 100 rushing yards in the first quarter alone, it looked like Alabama could be in for a long day. But then came a big score before half, and Alabama was right back in the game. Little did Vandy know, their 14 points in the first half would be all they scored in Tuscaloosa.
So it took a lot of fight for Alabama to claw back into the game. The same way it’s taken a lot of fight for them to overcome that Week 1 loss against FSU. But if you ask Kalen DeBoer, he expects nothing less from his team.
Kalen DeBoer knew his team would fight back against Vanderbilt
“Just really understanding, when it first happened Week 1, that there’s one or two things you can do. You can, you just take it, or you can fight back, said DeBoer after the game. “We really believe that we have a good football team. “We should have one option that’s just to get everything we got and leave it all on the football field. That’s what these guys are doing.”
And that is what Alabama did. From 113 yards rushing in the first half to ending with 135 total. From a 14-7 deficit, to a second-half shutout and 30-14 win. But perhaps most importantly in the game, it was the ability to turn over Diego Pavia not once, but twice in the red zone.
“I think, again, it’s them. It’s the guys who believe if we just execute, it will come, the game will come to us, and we’ll make those plays,” said DeBoer of his defense after a slow start. “And you know, that’s really what they did, they honed in on doing their part, and then knowing that the rest of the guys were going to rally. And that’s [why I] felt like we really kept the option stuff under control.”
In all, it’s a promising process and result for Alabama. They knew all week and honestly all year what this game meant. They heard what Diego Pavia was saying, and they took care of it both on the field and after the game.
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