Kalen DeBoer Explains Game-Sealing Pass to Miller

ATHENS, Ga. - Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was all smiles in the postgame press conference after the Crimson Tide took down the Georgia Bulldogs 24-21 on Saturday night in Athens, Georgia. It was just DeBoer's third win away from Bryant-Denny Stadium as Alabama's head coach, but it was a sweet win over the No. 5 team in the country.

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While he does still have a losing record away from home (3-5 in road/neutral site games), DeBoer feels like the team has learned from their road struggles last season and in week one.

"It's a mindset going in, especially against a team like this," DeBoer said in the postgame press conference. "You're gonna get punches thrown at you. You're just gonna, you're gonna take, you're gonna get some. And we got some tonight. What's your response gonna be? Our response was to punch back and punch back harder, and I really felt like even when it doesn't, isn't perfect execution, just felt like there was an attitude, an energy, that our guys had. There's gonna be no regrets when we walk off the football field because we gave it everything we had."

With less than two minutes left in the game, DeBoer was faced with a tough decision on third and five. A first down conversion meant victory formation for the Tide, while a third down stop for Georgia likely gave the Bulldogs back the football with a chance at a game-winning drive. He put the ball in the hands of his first-year starting quarterback, Ty Simpson, and Simpson delivered a pass to Jam Mille, who slid down to the ground just after picking up the first down. DeBoer said the Crimson Tide was playing for the win on the crucial third down.

"We wanna play to win. Didn't want to give them a chance. They'd have over a minute to go, probably, or right at a minute, maybe, with the punt. That gets hard, especially on the road. It's a pretty conservative play, because you need five yards. What are you gonna do if you get three? What are you gonna do if you get four? If we got out the back door clean with Jam [Miller], it was gonna be a good play, and then you've still got it in your quarterback's hands, and he can make a decision. Where you're at on the field, if you have to take a sack, you take a sack, keep the clock running, and then you go from there. Proud of the execution of the guys. We've had that one in for a while. Long time. Even last year, so just executing at the right time. I thought it was a great play call, great execution."

He was also asked about the identity of his team, which now holds a 3-1 record on the season and a 1-0 record in SEC play after Saturday's win.

"I think it's just, I think there's a toughness that's being built. I don't think we're there yet," he said. "I think there's things that we can do better. We talked about mental, physical, and emotional toughness that it was gonna take. That was one of the first things we put on the keys to victory at the beginning of the week. When it came to turnovers and takeaways, that was gonna be critical. And then executing in critical situations. And we did that, and those three things right there: We've taken care of the football, we executed in critical times, got the fourth-down stop, executed on third down, got off the field, especially in the first half, we were good in the red zone. Offensively, 4-for-4, I think three touchdowns. So, all those things, but there's a toughness that our guys are building on. We've still got a long ways to go, and they know that."

The Crimson Tide's road struggles under DeBoer will be talked about until they prove they can consistently win games, both big and small, on the road. But the 2025 Alabama Crimson Tide has shown resilience that many thought wasn't there after Alabama's 31-17 loss to Florida State in week one. What stands out the most to DeBoer after that shocking day in Tallahassee, Florida?

"It started at, they pretty much just got an edge to them. Took everything that was out there and channeled the energy into us," he explained. "Into us being better and getting better. And there's two things you can do when things are coming down on you a little bit. You can go back yourself in a corner or you can fight. These guys, they've made up their minds. They're gonna fight. The staff is doing the same thing. That was where it started, but I think it's just continued now, continued to build. We've gotta make sure we don't forget what that chip on the shoulder was that kinda got this momentum going. Gotta understand what it took mentally, physically, emotionally today to be able to sustain from start to finish. Not just 30 minutes. It's 60 minutes. So, that's been a word that we talked about going back to January. I've talked to you guys about it. Sustaining it. Can we sustain the energy? Can we sustain the passion? Not just for the season, not for the game, but each play. We sustained it, and at the very end, churning out those first downs with the offensive line, that's something we weren't doing in fall camp. That's not something we were doing at the beginning of the season, at the end of the game. Maybe we did it at the beginning of the game. The first drive, Florida State, worked at it, got it done, but we weren't doing that in the second half like we did tonight."

Alabama will return home next weekend to take on No. 18 Vanderbilt on Saturday, October 4.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.