It looks like the Alabama team that walked off the field 31-17 losers in Tallahassee, Florida, almost a month ago, doesn’t exist anymore — sort of.
The 17th-ranked Crimson Tide (3-1) made that clear in a 24-21 win at No. 5 Georgia (3-1) on Saturday night in Athens. Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson threw two touchdown passes, and the Bulldogs couldn’t rally as the Crimson Tide defense turned them away on three-straight drives to close the game.
“I think there’s a toughness that’s being built. I don’t think we’re there yet. I think there’s things that we can do better,” Kalen DeBoer told reporters afterward. “We talked about mental, physical and emotional toughness that it was gonna take. That was one of the first things we put on the keys to victory at the beginning of the week.”
Alabama has won four straight since the season-opening loss at Florida State, and the Crimson Tide moved to No. 10 in the poll on Sunday because of it. The Crimson Tide bludgeoned Louisiana-Monroe 73-0 and beat Wisconsin 38-14 the following week before a bye week ahead of the Georgia game.
Alabama Executed Against Georgia
GettyAlabama’s Kadyn Proctor produced against Georgia.
Against the Bulldogs, Alabama recovered a fumble and didn’t commit any turnovers. The Crimson Tide also executed 13-19 on third downs and held the Bulldogs to 2-8, and Alabama only committed four penalties for the game.
“We knew when it came to turnovers and takeaways, that was gonna be critical. And then execute in critical situations, and we did that,” DeBoer said. “And those three things right there, we’ve taken care of the football.”
“We executed in critical times, got the fourth down stop, executed on third down. Got off the field, especially in the first half,” he added. “We were good in the red zone offensively, 4-for-4, I think three touchdowns. And so, all those things… but there’s a toughness that our guys are building on, and we still got a long ways to go, and they know that.”
FSU Loss Still on Crimson Tide’s Back Burner
Despite the big win over Georgia and a four-game winning streak, the Week 1 loss to FSU still came up. FSU notably lost for the first time this season against Virginia on Sept. 26 and fell to No. 18 in the new rankings.
“It started that they pretty much just got an edge to them. Took everything that was out there and channeled the energy into us, into us being better and getting better,” DeBoer said. “And there’s two things you can do when things are coming down on you a little bit.”
“You can go back yourself in a corner and you can fight. And these guys, they’ve made up their minds, they’re gonna fight,” DeBoer added. “And the staff is doing the same thing. And so I think just that was where it started. But I think it’s just continued now to continue to build. And we gotta make sure we don’t forget what that chip on the shoulder was that kinda got this momentum going.”
Alabama faces a No. 16 Vanderbilt team next, and that’s a squad that upset the Crimson Tide in SEC play last year.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer Puts Country on Notice After Win Over Goergia appeared first on Heavy Sports.