What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama's Loss to Florida State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Kalen DeBoer's second season as the Alabama head coach started the same way the first season ended: with an upset loss to an unranked opponent.

The No. 8 Crimson Tide lost 31-17 at Florida State on Saturday night to start the season 0-1 for the first time since 2001. DeBoer will speak to the media after the game about his team's performance.

Follow along for updates from DeBoer's press conference with the full video and a transcript to follow.

Full Transcript

Kalen DeBoer's Opening Comments:

"Alright, had some opportunities to get back in the game there. The name of the game is that we can't be hesitant early on. We've got to start faster in all ways. Yes, I know we went down and scored on the first drive, pieced some plays together and found a way to put it in the endzone, but just the next couple series - both sides of the ball - we've got to do a better job, we've got to do a better job. And we had opportunities there in the second half, but we gave them life. We gave them hope and confidence in the first half there and then what it does is it puts you in a spot where you've got to be perfect and you're playing from behind and you've got to be perfect and the stress on the guys to make every play becomes greater and greater.

"I choose to believe we've got a good football team, but we can't play on our heels. We're not going to be what we think we can be, what we want to be if that's the case and so that falls on everyone. I don't just point the finger at the players. I know both sides of the ball you kind of what you're going to see going into the game with new coordinators, but we talked in the locker room, there's no excuse about what happened. We stepped on the football field, they stepped on the football field and we've got to play ball. We've got to play our style of ball and last year isn't this year and it's going to be an uphill climb for us, but you can't think of it in the scope of things, you've got to focus on the moment and the next moment is what happens tomorrow. And we'll find out, we'll find out. We've talked all along about chemistry on this team, about how close we are, how hard we worked, doing a lot of the right things, but we'll find out, we'll find out if that sticks. "

Can you give us an update on Ryan Willams?

"Yeah, he got a concussion. He got a concussion."

They had over 200 yards rushing, why was the running game so challenging to stop?

"You knew going in with the quarterback runs it was going to be a challenge. He did a nice job, I thought in the first half of keeping some drives alive on passing downs, ones that weren't called runs. They did a nice job of going sideline-to-sideline, did a lot of things with those fly-sweeps we worked on, we prepared for. Guys get one on one, in space and you've got to find a way to get them on the ground. You've got to use your leverage, you've got to find ways to trust your buddies around you that they're in pursuit and they were piecing together first downs, they kept on the field and they hit the explosive down the sideline in the first drive. They're going to make plays too, I can live with that, but we've got to respond. Coming out in the second half, I thought we settled in, other than the one play. I really felt third quarter going into the fourth quarter, defensively we kind of got our feet underneath us, had an idea of the rhythm of what they do offensively and how we call plays. They do some funky things with the snap count and all that kind of stuff and it kind of keeps our guys kind of wondering what's next and not in our own rhythm. I think we got through that after the first half, but then we give them the run, we give them the play and then we let them out with the penalty at the end, the late hit. We can't live in the grey area, we've talked about that all season long. It isn't just about that play. It's other things, but that certainly adds to it."

You had seven drives ending in Florida State territory but only scored three times, why couldn't the offense finish drives?

"That's probably, from a frustration standpoint, that's the thing that is frustrating. You win the game and you look at those drives and you're saying hey there's first downs that you're piecing together, you're giving yourself chances, but when you lose the game you look at and you understand that there's got to be some competitive stamina, it was a long drive, the first one and it was hard work. You had to execute, you had to make some big plays and you did it. Now you've got to go back out there and you've got to do it again and you've got to stack play after play after play. We'd have a negative play or that missed opportunity, there was some opportunities there that we either didn't give ourselves a chance to make or just missed. Not going to live in regret, not going to live in regret. We've got to go fix it and be better because of it and evaluate the film and move on."

What did you see out of Ty in his first start?

"He's got to just trust his reads and just cut it loose sometimes and just let it fly, he can make the throws and just let it fly and throw on ryhthm, throw on time. There might of been a time or two where they got in his face a little quick, that's going to happen, that's football, but just let it fly. Then some decision making there in certain critical moments and that's some things he's going to learn from. He's giving everything he has, but that's where, I know he's in the locker room wanting and wishing that there was some things that he would've done different, but there are other guys too. We've got to catch the ball for him once in a while. It's a full team sport, it's a whole offensive unit, that helps us move up and down the ball up and down the field. Yeah the quarterback's the trigger man, but everyone's got to do their part to help the guy out."

You played a number of freshmen in the game. Was it always the plan?

"At tight end Kaleb's [Edwards] the next guy up that's really what it's about. You've got Josh [Cuevas] and Danny's [Lewis] been down again here the last little bit. You go through the depth chart, you've got a ding or two in the tight end room that holds some guys out for some plays. Some guys that've been out during camp, Marshall [Pritchett] a little bit limited. So that's where we're at with the depth chart there. Yeah there's going to be young guys. That's the world we're in right now. You've got som older guys and then all of the sudden there's a gap and younger guys got to step on the field and play.

Yeah you go down the depth chart further on the defensive tackle interior list and London's [Simmons] done some nice things as a freshman for us in practice with some consistency there. We trust him. You've got to go out there, getting thrown to the wolves or whatever you want to call it. That was certainly the case, but that's where we're at in the rotation."

What changed in the offensive running game? 55-yards in the first drive and finished with 87.

"Yeah, I'm trying to think of the runs in the first half, first quarter, first drive. I felt like they were very similar to some of the ones we had in the fourth quarter. As far as the holes and the seams and getting through the first level. I think there were hard yards in the first quarter that we did have. We were able to stay ahead of the chains and continue to do that and then the game going into the third quarter for sure you're trying to be patient, but you know those possessions are counting down on you. But I thought we did a good job staying committed to it as we went into the fourth quarter there again hitting some plays up the middle. There needs to be a better consistency. We didn't have any explosives like we need to have. It's hard to put drives together when you don't have chunk yardage plays. They hit their explosives at times, the reverses and things like that, the ball down the field on the first drive. We had some explosives too but most of them were in the air."

Live Updates

(latest updates at the top)

DeBoer says he thinks Alabama did a good job staying committed to the run, but says Alabama needs to have more explosives in the run game.
DeBoer says Ty Simpson has to trust his reads and let it fly. He says Simpson will learn from his decision making in critical moments. He also says that the offense has to do better to help Simpson out.
DeBoer says he is probably most frustrated with how Alabama wasn't able to finish drives in Florida State territory.
DeBoer says WR Ryan Williams has a concussion.
"There's no excuses about what happened... Last year isn't this year. It's going to be an uphill climb for us."
"I choose to believe we've got a good football team, but we can't play on our heels."
"We can't be hesitant early on. We've got to start faster."- DeBoer says
As of 6:35, DeBoer still has not come to the postgame media room for his press conference.

Full Transcript

Live Updates

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