Football in Alabama is facing a situation it hasn’t faced since 2007. The Crimson Tide, who still have a difficult game against Missouri to play, have lost twice before November for the first time since Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa.
Kalen DeBoer, the head coach of UA for the first time, is having to deal with a level of media and fan criticism that wasn’t present during his prior positions. But the athletes at Alabama say DeBoer has met the moment.
“He’s been great leading us,” cornerback Domani Jackson said Tuesday. “He should, as head coach. Just preaching about the team and what we’ve got to do.”
Alabama lost to Tennessee Saturday in Knoxville, suffering numerous self-inflicted wounds on the way to a 24-17 defeat. That loss came two weeks after the Crimson Tide dropped to Vanderbilt for the first time since 1984.
The sound is growing louder. CJ Dippre, a tight end, claims that the coaching staff urged the players to ignore it all.
Regarding the advice from coaches, Dippre stated, “Stop worrying so much about external things.” “The past few weeks shouldn’t be a major concern for us. We haven’t performed up to the Bama standard, which is our benchmark. Therefore, we should only be internally concerned with our actions rather than our opponent or anything else. Simply play football for Alabama.
Missouri is 6-1 on the season going into Saturday’s matchup. Following a mid-game trip to a nearby hospital for an MRI, quarterback Brady Cook returned to lead his team to victory, giving the Tigers a thrilling victory over Auburn in Columbia last week.
With dynamic receivers like Luther Burden III and Theo Wease, MU can pose a threat to Alabama in the air. The Tigers are placed No. 21 on the Associated Press top 25 poll going into the game, so while the Crimson Tide must win, it is by no means a given.
Alabama’s already precarious position in the College Football Playoffs is likely to be eliminated with another defeat.
Defensive lineman Jah-Marien Latham praised DeBoer’s message before the pivotal match, saying, “He’s been awesome.” Simply keeping us positive and ensuring that our heads are in the proper place. When you lose to Alabama, you have a lot of supporters, a lot of people, and outside noise that is just a lot of chatter. Therefore, we need to make sure that we don’t lose sight of our primary goal, which is to perform on Saturday.
The game between Missouri and Alabama is set to begin at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. CT. ABC will broadcast the game.
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