What Kalen DeBoer Said After Alabama Defeated Eastern Illinois

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama football bounced back against Eastern Illinois (3-9) on Saturday afternoon, bludgeoning the Panthers 56-0 on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. It was the No. 10 Crimson Tide's final home game of the regular season.

Head coach Kalen DeBoer will speak to the media after the victory, with a full transcript and video to be posted following the conclusion of the second-year Alabama coach's press conference. The Crimson Tide is 9-2 heading into the Iron Bowl next weekend at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Full Transcript:

Opening Statement:

"Just good to get a lot of guys out there today and, of course, get the win, and just a good week of practice. Good locker room downstairs. Excited about a few things. One, getting a lot of guys on the field. Had some shout-outs, to some of the walk-ons in particular who put in a lot of work. Guys who got some stops and put the ball in the end zone, and then just looking ahead too, to the excitement of what lies ahead with the Iron Bowl. Just, the opportunities that are in front of us. And so, a lot of the things that we would have goals for are all there. The things we set out to do at the beginning of the season, or even way back in January, right in front of us. Go attack it, and I know we're gonna do that. Love the response that we had this week, all week, and the work on practice."

On Josh Cuevas, who missed the game due to injury:

"We'll just kinda have to see how he comes along here during the week next week."

On Ryan Grubb being on the sidelines instead of in the box:

"We'll talk about it afterwards, but it's something he's been thinking about here for a while now, and just communication, trying to see if there's a way where, you're always trying to make things better. Doesn't mean it was bad before, but just something different, and today was a good opportunity to do that. So, we'll hash that out and kinda see what we want to do moving forward. Thought it was good, though. I thought the communication was really good, and there's an impact I think he makes when he's around the players. They feed off him, and just, I thought the communication, again, between the coaches and him, just being right there with him, and overseeing everything, and getting a feel of what's happening, it was good."

On Conor Talty being booed after missing a field goal:

"Yeah, I wish they'd have had their back like I know our locker room has his back. He's trying, he's working hard, and he had a great week of practice. I don't think he missed one all week, and we put him all over the place. So, he's gonna keep plugging away, and just want everyone supporting him. Just like every other player on our football team, giving everything he has."

On Peter Notaro and the rotation of kickers used in the game for extra points:

"We were maybe thinking we were gonna get another chance with some field goals and things like that. We wanted to try to get a number of guys opportunities. You saw, we had multiple, I think four kickers out there that all got their chances. We're probably hoping that we could get another chance to get him [Notaro] out there, and that never popped up."

On the running backs after Alabama scored eight rushing touchdowns:

"It's always execution, and just more reps. Everything, you get better with reps. It doesn't matter what your position is. Head coach, position coach, player. So, a day like today, there's just a lot of reps. And we had a shakeup with the offensive line with Geno [VanDeMark] in there and a few other guys. So, again, more reps for those guys against the looks that we saw. Mixed in running backs, and I thought they all ran hard and got their opportunities. So, just trying to build on everything. I thought last week, a week ago, I thought we took a step forward. And we'll watch the film and continue to go back to work. I feel like we've got a physical football team, both sides of the ball, and that's what it's gonna come down to here as we go down this home stretch."

On how the tight end room is affected in the event of Cuevas' unavailability:

"Kaleb [Edwards], I mean, he's played all year. He's had big catches going back to the very beginning of the season, and the combination of guys working together, I think, is always key. Whether they're working together in the blocking schemes, and that was a big part of what we were trying to do, too, is just getting some of those guys reps together, building for the future. So, there's intentionality on some of the calls and personnel groupings with potential situations that could happen. I thought getting Marshall Pritchett, who's gonna be a really good football player, the last few weeks, he's really gained a lot of steam. Gotten a few reps. He's been great on special teams. And we saw him early in the season, scout team, tearing it up. Getting healthier throughout the year, and now he's out there doing his thing, and it was good to see [him] get comfortable. It was good to see Brody [Dalton] out there making some plays and playing physical too."

On Keelon Russell's development:

"I credit him. I credit our staff. I think it's always hard to get three guys a lot of reps in practice but I think we've really done a good job. Credit to Nick Sheridan, Ryan Grubb of having some intentionality about how we can get all those guys really impotant, valuable reps. And they take it very seriously. Not just when they're on the field, but when they're behind the line going through their checks and giving these guys a chance to go out there and play. You can see, he [Russell], I thought he made a lot of good decisions. There's one to finish a drive there, probably got a little anxious, a little quick on it, I think hang in there a little bit longer, he could've made something happen, but that's gonna happen. Especially with where he's at in his progression. But come a long ways throughout the season. The way he spits out things in the huddle. Command of the offense, command of the verbiage. He's right there and doing a great job, as is Austin Mack. Austin goes out there, and you really don't skip a beat with any of those guys."

On Ty Simpson after a game where he had two interceptions:

"The last one, he has to throw it in the end zone at the end of the half. In fact, I told him, 'I'm glad you threw it in the end zone.' Cause that means the stats don't matter. Because that'd be one where a lot of quarterbacks would've just checked it down, and you're up 28-0, I think it was at the time, and they don't want that. I appreciate that about Ty. That's gonna do no good. Your goal is to try to score. So, he had a good week of practice, and probably forced the one in there, I'll have to see the film a little bit. I haven't checked that play. Probably forced that one in there, and I think sometimes that happens in these games, is you try to force the ball down the field. He didn't get as many opportunities. Probably knew it was gonna be a shortened game, but you gotta be disciplined, and I really feel like he'll do that moving forward just like he has all season."