What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama Defeated Wisconsin

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 19 Alabama followed up its blowout win over Louisiana-Monroe in the home opener with another dominant showing, a 38-14 thrashing of Wisconsin inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer spent time with the media after the win to talk about what went right for the program in Week 3.

Full Transcript

Kalen DeBoer's Opening Statement:

"Thought we came ready to play, and especially with our response when we got stopped on fourth down. The defense coming on the field not really hanging their heads and just the very next play getting the takeaway. A lot of different directions that one could have gone after getting stopped there. Offense takes over, takes advantage of it, moves the ball down the field. It was really good to see the response to some adversity there.

Would love to see us do a better job in the fourth quarter, just finishing. We got a lot of drops there that our guys don't make. We got to play better there. We had a couple penalties in the beggining of the third quarter, it's just nonsense. We gave them a touchdown really because the ball would have been kicked out of the end zone. I love the energy on the sideline and I love the excitement, but we've got to run them off the field, right? We've got to take care of those things because those are the things that can kill you in a close game.

One thing I do want to do, I want to shout out our fans. 11:00 kick in the morning, getting here earlier and all that, I know people travel to get here. Appreciate the energy that they brought and also our student section. Noticing that our student section was full from start to finish, our guys feed off that energy, they really do. We've got to make sure we do our part to make sure we give them something to cheer about. So we appreciate them there.

Zero turnovers again, doing a good job. High priority of ball security, taking care of the football, and a couple more takeaways. Guys got good pressure on the quarterback with the sacks. Thought it was a good team game. Obviously there's some things we've got to clean up with the penalties in particular."

What was your message to Ryan Williams coming back from injury?

"I think he was just hungry to get back out there and do what he does. So this last week he wanted to be better then he was in week one, so he went back to work. It was good to see him and Ty connect. Nice to see some easy throws that I think get a guy going, both Ryan and Ty, but also some of those deep sideline throws. Those aren't the easiest. So they worked extremely hard on those. They were very intentional to make sure the timing of those routes was good all week long in practice, and they went out and executed. Good to see him do his thing. He's obviously crazy explosive when he's got the ball in his hands."

What did you think of Ty Simpson's play?

He's really, I think, in the last two games slowed the game down, just stayed within himself, just where his head's moving, where he's seeing and going through his read progressions, he's been so disciplined on it. I think it continues to feed on itself when he stays the course and trusts the guys around him. He doesn't try to do too much. The reads will take you where the ball needs to go.

It isn't a talent question. He can throw the ball where it needs to go, and he's been super accurate. Unfortunately we dropped a few balls for him at the end and we're going to need those, but he's been playing really well the last two weeks. I think he's risen to the occasion. I think we challenged him last week a little bit and I like where his head's at."

What is the chemstry between Ty and the receivers like?

"They know that if they run their route hard, they're going to get the ball. So they're flying around, doing their thing. What I really like about the group is there's an unselfishness that's developing. And guys know that they might not be the primary, but they're going to do their job, and then someone else might get the ball, and next time it might come their way. I saw that happen a couple times today.

Guys are just playing for each other. You got them running a route for the love of the game. You're cleared out, you might get the ball, you always have to be ready. You're running a hundred miles, as fast as you can as someone else is coming underneath. Germ's touchdown that he had up the middle is a great example of that. Us going out and opening up that seam.

What is the immediate focal point heading into the bye?

"Don't let off the gas. That's just where we're at right now. We're just very intentional. We have been intentional. When I say that, everything we do has purpose. Moving with purpose and just how we operate in the building, the guys have an energy right now that's becoming contagious. They see it, and they are reaping the rewards of it. They see it and they're reaping the rewards of it. They know we're still so far from where we need to be, but we've taken a couple steps here in the last two weeks."

How good was it to be able to sack the quarterback today?

"That's great to see. Mixed in some pressure at times but there were some sacks where our guys just won their one-on-ones. Continue to work off each other, there were a couple times where a lane just opened up. They've got good football players, too, but for the most part I thought that we were there and it was next guy running to the ball carrier and to the quarterback. Just coninute to harrass over and over and over. Just be aggressive. I love the effort that those guys gave, and we'll see more on the film but I see positives."

How have you been motivating the team?

We understand what we're capable of doing. There's older guys that have stepped up in their leadership role and there's younger guys that got a feel of it in that first game, and understand that it doesn't just happen by itself. You've got to make it happen, you've got to will it to happen. You don't just will it to happen on Saturdays, you've got to will it to happen during the course of the week. Tuesday morning you've got to show up and you've got to do your job. When that alarm clock goes off, we're popping out of bed, and we've got a purpose. And that's to practice, to go play, and we've just got to keep that urgency that our guys have right now."

Did you see a chip on Ryan Williams' shoulder?

"I think that goes for any player who had to sit out for any type of injury. You love the game, and you love being out there, and you miss it. He had a great week of practice and I think a lot of it had to do with being on the sideline last week and not being able to play. I would expect the same out of some of the guys that we're hopeful to get back here very soon in a couple weeks. Not that the guys take it for granted, but I think you really have a different perspective when you're sitting on the sideline and you're in that spot. You want to go out there and take advantage of that opportunity. And he took advantage of his opportunity, not just today, but all week in practice."

Are you concerned with the production of the run game and what is the key to improving production?

"There's certainly an area where we can improve in the running game, and we have to. It's execution, that's where it starts. The ability to be physical exists and we just got to continue to work on it. I know the guys want to do it, but that's definitely an area where I can see us continuing to emphasize.

What was the execution? Were we not technically sound on doing our job? When you rattle it off like you just did with the numbers, it certainly leads me to believe that there is a lot more potential. The pass opens up the run, run opens up the pass, so I think early on in the game we had a commitment to the running and that opened up the play action."

Check out what Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell had to say after losing to Alabama for the second year here.