On Saturday, the latest edition of the historic Third Saturday in October rivalry will be played. Tennessee football travels to Alabama to take on the Tide in a top-15 bout. Before the game, UA head coach Kalen DeBoer met with the media for a press conference.
He was asked about quarterback Ty Simpson, the rivalry, injuries and more.
Here’s what he said.
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Opening statement
“Just recapping Missouri, proud of the fight of these guys. That’s not just the last three weeks, it’s the last really five, six weeks since we dropped week one. Just the resiliency these guys have. It’s in games. It’s just them sticking together. They’re playing for each other. Just got to keep it rolling. It doesn’t happen on its own. It happens through hard work. It happens through building trust and belief through practice and great habits there. It’s carrying over to the football field, helping us find ways to win when it matters the most. Team football, I think just some of the best team football stacking weeks on top of each other that I’ve ever been a part of. It’s not perfect, you guys can see that, but it’s the team sticking together. It’s the team covering for each other. Doing some of the things we couldn’t do a year ago. One side of the ball coming through, getting points on the board. The other side getting a stop, three-and-out. Changing field position that way. Kicks when we need it. Pinning teams back inside their own 20 in different games. Just playing team football and that’s what matters right now.
“I think there’s a toughness that we have. We talk about toughness wins, that’s mental, physical and emotional toughness. Proud of the way our guys, turnover-wise, continue to win that battle each and every week. We’re winning the time of possession. We didn’t shut them down, but we took a lot of the things that Missouri did well and flipped the script on that from a time of possession standpoint. Kept them from having as many plays as they’d like to be able to be able to continue to hammer away with their run game. That’s team football right there. I think the penalties, too. I’m not afraid to talk about it with all those things because it happens through work. You create your own luck. You create your own breaks. Could have used a few more breaks when the ball was on the ground, those will fall in our hands as long as we continue to hustle and get to it. Now, the whole thing is about sustaining the energy cause each week has been stacked on top of itself and these guys have been bringing it at a high level in practice.
“Got a great opponent with Tennessee coming in here this weekend. Understand the rivalry and it’s a lot of fun for our fans and goes back, obviously, generations. We understand how big of deal this game is to them. We understand how big of a deal this game is to us right now in the season that we’re in and that’s really what we’re focused on. Coach Heupel, nothing but the utmost respect for him and his staff. Just what they’re doing, what he’s done at Tennessee, his coaching career. An outstanding coach. Great football mind, you can see it on the football field. You can see the culture that they’ve built there, too.
“Just looking forward to a great game. Need our fans loud. Extremely loud. We need an environment that’s the best in the country here this weekend. Again, we’re playing for a lot each week and we appreciate the support we get. Our players feel the energy and feed off of it.”
On injury updates
“(WR) Jalen Hale has been sick. That was the reason why he last minute got put on the report… (WR Jaylen Mbakewe) had a hand injury in practice last week. He’ll be back out there practicing and we’ll see kind of how the week goes on how he goes there. Obviously, he plays receiver, so that affects a little bit, but there’s other things he can do for our football team. He’s in great spirits, so he’ll go through that. (RB) Jam (Miller) and (WR) Derek (Meadows) will both be going through their (concussion) protocal this week… (LB) Cayden Jones, he had to have surgery on an ankle injury. So, he’ll be down for a little while.”
On QB Ty Simpson saying he missed protection checks against Missouri, on who’s responsibility that is
“A lot of how we orchestrate, I think it’s pretty easy to see from a football mind, it starts with (OL) Parker (Brailsford) getting things started, but Ty overrides everything. Ty makes the – he can see the big picture and knows what he really wants to get to. In the end, the quarterback, whether it’s a turnover and it’s not his fault, it still falls on his shoulders. The protection checks. Ty, he holds himself to such a high level, he’s going to take accountability for all of that. He’s the one that needs to declare if something’s not right or what he feels comfortable with to get us into that protection. He’s, again, we ask a lot out of him. He asks a lot of himself and it doesn’t surprise me that he holds himself accountable for all of that.”
On using OL Kadyn Proctor in different ways, using him as a wildcat QB for a play vs. Missouri
“I just think (OC) Ryan Grubb and our offensive staff do a great job, not just with that play, but with everything we’re doing. Continue to force the issue, have the creativity, force defenses to have to think about what’s next. Whether it’s with that package or other things that we do. We’re using it in big moments. It’s something that we feel isn’t just this exhibition. It’s something we feel like KP can do some things and there’s a positive in a way where we can gain yards in critical moments with him. There’s a trust that we have in him. Again, I think just in general, Ryan Grubb doing a great job, continuing to push the envelope for our whole offense to continue to attack teams in different ways. People always think attack vertically in the passing game, but there’s other ways to attack people. During those moments, it’s great to see our guys execute and do a great job. Got a first down.”
On a moment of resilience against Missouri
“I think there’s a lot of them. I think the first drive of the game, they go down the field on us, and we respond offensively with a touchdown. And then our defense goes back out there and gets a stop and then we respond again. No one relaxing, no one flinching, even in just that sequence of two offense, two defensive series. I think in the beginning of the second half when we put the ball on the ground and give them the short field, they score a touchdown, that’s a time where all of a sudden we had a 10-point lead and now it’s within a minute really of time on the clock, because it was the end of the half they got a field goal and a touchdown, all of a sudden, we’re in a tie game. What’s that look like? It’s coming back, and you could see it. I know your question is about certain conversations, but I think it’s just the look in our guys’ eyes. They’re in the locker room at halftime, I referred to this a couple times, they’re looking to solve problems. There’s energy. There’s excitement to go back out there and continue to execute. There’s not a timidness that they have. It’s trust and belief in them and their side of the ball, but also trust and belief that the other side is going to get it figured out at some point. We’re going to get it figured out, the game is going to come back to us if we’re behind, we’re just going to continue to execute and apply pressure when we’re ahead.”
On being tied for the longest home win-streak in college football, the home atmosphere at Alabama
“It’s a great environment here. I think it’s the feeling you even have with the walk into the stadium and there’s just, the players, we pull up in the buses and you can see everybody is ready to go. We better uphold our end of the bargain, too. That honestly goes into the week of preparation and the understanding of what it’s going to feel like. When you’re practicing on a Tuesday, the excitement that leads into want to make sure that we’re at the top of our game on Saturday. And then you get into the environment and you need crowd noise to affect the timing of the snap count for the opponent. The momentum and what that brings when we’re making plays. Just huge to have that energy being at home. I think that would go for a lot of programs, but it’s definitely a big deal here for us.”
On DL Keon Keeley
“He just has done a good job of just being patient. There’s just things that – there’s reasons that have kept him from getting on the football field that he just continues to work on. He’s got potential to do some amazing things for us. Working him into different packages this past week, I really like the growth there. He’s been involved in special teams a little bit more in the past few weeks, as well. Just continuing to build each week and as he gets more and more comfortable, I can see that impact being greater and greater. I’m really proud. He’s just a great kid in general. That’s what makes it fun being on the football field with him. That’s what makes you want to pour everything you’ve got into him and help his growth. He’s humble. Obviously, he can make some plays. I’m looking to see more and more of him in the weeks ahead.”
On what he’s learned about his team after three wins against ranked teams
“It’s been a fight for these guys. It’s not just those three games. We’ve had our backs against the wall since week one and there’s a bye week in there. I think they’ve done a great job of taking whatever it is that is against us or whatever that the doubt is that people have for our team and taking that energy and just pouring it into what matters most and that’s our preparation. There’s a rivalry piece to this game, but there’s also now just a confidence that we’ve built through some things. But we also got to go back to how did this all start? This all started with us being intentional on the work that we’re doing. We’ve referred to just shut up, show up and do the work. That’s really what we’ve kind of honed in on and everything we do we have that urgency level. I’m really proud of the guys for not falling off that standard that we had because that’s what human nature is. You get comfortable, we’ve had five wins in a row now. Our conference and the schedule keeps you from – that’s one thing that keeps you from falling off the standard because every week, if you don’t, you know you’re going to be in trouble. I’m just proud of the way the guys have been resilient in the moments that matter most and also just understand how we got there. And that’s through hard work and that’s through a lot of the things I said earlier with the team and the buy in to each other. Not wanting to let your teammates down. Again, we got a lot of room for improvement. You’ve heard from the coordinators in areas we’ve fallen short and the things that we feel like we can do better.”
On if he changes the way he practices physically given the SEC schedule
“I think as the season goes along, you have to continue to keep that in mind on where your team is at. How is this taking a toll? Right now, I feel we’re always monitoring it, but the pedal is down right now for our guys. The GPS and all that kind of stuff. There’s other ways that we used to not be able to tell where our guys are at. I think from a practice habit standpoint, we practice as hard as you could imagine. There’s proof in that. It isn’t just something that’s just the eyeball test, there’s other pieces to it, as well. We also have to understand like with your question, there are physical games being played on Saturdays. There are certain guys that it hits different than others. You know, that shows up on Tuesday. That shows up on Wednesday. A lot of people read into reps and things like that and why is this guy’s rep count down? There’s probably a little more into that, as well, that isn’t seen because you’re not at practice. Who is maybe a little bit hobbled and dinged up and we’re not making all that stuff known all the time. I’m just really proud of the way these guys each week – tomorrow morning, I really feel like I know what I’m going to get from our guys. I expect a high level of energy. I expect a high level of effort. They’ve risen to the occasion every week and haven’t fallen off and that’s a credit to them. That’s a credit to our coaching staff for finding the ways to really keep them on edge. Keep them motivated. Understand the importance of the work that we put in all day, each and every day.”
