Kalen DeBoer tells biggest difference he noticed about Alabama vs. Georgia

Kalen DeBoer walked out of Sanford Stadium in Athens on Saturday night, impressed by his team’s response to adversity following Alabama football’s 24-21 victory over Georgia.

Leading up to this anticipated matchup, the Crimson Tide were still in the process of bouncing back from their season-opening loss at the hands of Florida State in Tallahassee. Alabama had since begun its path to redemption with two resounding home victories over ULM and Wisconsin, but chatter still surrounded the Tide, with questions remaining about the program’s overall makeup, discipline, fortitude and mental toughness. Those questions began finding answers when Alabama led Georgia and showed passion on both sides of the football from start to finish en route to their first road win of the season.

DeBoer shed light on how the Tide were able to respond in a resilient fashion to the adversity caused by their early-season letdown against the Seminoles while speaking with reporters after the game.

“They pretty much just got an edge to them,” DeBoer said. “Took everything that was out there and channeled the energy to us, into us being better, and getting better. And there’s two things you can do when things are coming down a little bit. You can back yourself into a corner or you can fight. And these guys, they made up their mind, they’re gonna fight. The staff is doing the same thing, and so, I think that’s the is where it started. But I think it’s just continued in how to continue to build. And we’ve gotta make sure we don’t forget what that chip on the shoulder was that kind’ve got this momentum going, and we’ve gotta understand what it took mentally, physically, and emotionally today to be able to sustain from start to finish, not just 30 minutes, it’s 60 minutes. That’s been a word that we’ve talked about going back to January. I talked to you guys about it, sustaining. Can we sustain the energy? Can we sustain the passion? Not just for the season, not for the game, but each play.”

Alabama football looks to continue sustaining its internal fire when it welcomes Vanderbilt to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday.