Kalen DeBoer’s halftime speech to his players during the LSU game was made public in a video posted by Alabama Football on X.
All season long, Alabama supporters have yearned to see DeBoer’s fire flare, and in recent weeks, that desire has begun to show. The fact that the Crimson Tide have defeated LSU and Missouri in back-to-back full games since we began to witness the head coach’s increased emotion may not be a coincidence.
In his first season at Alabama and only his fourth season as a head coach at a power-four, DeBoer is still learning on the job. He discovered that, regardless of the lead, you cannot let up against Georgia. The Tide had a 30-7 lead at the half and ultimately had to rally in the fourth quarter to win the game.
DeBoer’s message made it obvious that he had learnt his lesson, as the Baton Rouge team was ahead 21-6 over LSU at the half.
“We talk about being relentless,” DeBoer continued. Four quarters of unrelenting work. Not two. Four quarters. Don’t enter that field unless you’re prepared to start quickly, pursue them, and use physical force. Put pressure on each and every play. each and every move till they give up.”
The cinematic game film for the LSU game is the nine-minute clip that was uploaded on X. DeBoer’s speech begins at about 5:20 if you wish to hear it.
Nick Saban’s strategy of applying pressure until the opponent quits is a classic. One of Saban’s guiding principles was to overwhelm the opponent and force them to give up.
DeBoer is beginning to understand. At Alabama, he’s starting to realize what it takes to win. Alabama looks like the national title candidate we believed they were in the preseason, and they seem to be finding their rhythm at the perfect time despite the two losses.
The implications of the Alabama Crimson Tide’s resounding victory over LSU for the future
With every ESPN GameDay presenter predicting that LSU would defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide, Saturday morning got underway for Bengal Tiger supporters. Except for Nick Saban, that is. One club performed like a contender in Saturday’s Playoff elimination match. Alabama pushed itself back into the discussion of legitimate contenders for the National Championship after destroying LSU.
How big the game was supposed to be for LSU is impossible. When the Bengal Tigers played at night in Tiger Stadium, Brian Kelly was represented as being invincible. Three hundred recruits were present to present Kelly’s program and make compelling arguments for joining. Unfortunately for Kelly and LSU, Saturday night’s sole highlight was the Alabama Crimson Tide’s supremacy.
LSU supporters started pouring out of Tiger Stadium well before the third quarter was over. With more than seven minutes remaining in the game, Alabama turned to their backups. It wasn’t until nearly the end that LSU managed to score a touchdown. More than a football game was lost by the LSU program. A lot of hope was gone, along with faith in Brian Kelly, because numerous LSU supporters had been anxious previously.
The Alabama Crimson Tide is back in the running for the National Championship.
Ole Miss defeated Georgia with a resounding victory earlier Saturday. The Rebels and the Alabama Crimson Tide are the two most popular teams in the SEC following Week 11 games. Working swiftly after Saturday’s games, CBS expert Jerry Palm projected Alabama to reach Atlanta after tiebreakers are tallied. Palm also predicted that the Crimson Tide would go to the CFB Playoffs as the third seed after defeating Texas in the SEC Championship Game. Four SEC teams are predicted by Palm to qualify for the playoffs. Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee are among his SEC picks in addition to Alabama.
Many college football fans will be saddened by Alabama’s return to title contention. Even some Alabama fans might be somewhat taken aback by it. Although it wasn’t perfect, the Crimson Tide was nearly perfect in Baton Rouge. Nick Sheridan, Kane Wommack, Kalen DeBoer, and the rest of the Alabama football staff deserve praise for their focused and resolute growth. The Crimson Tide were a much stronger team on Saturday night than they were in their victory over Georgia in September. The Crimson Tide physically destroyed LSU, but more significantly, Alabama displayed impressive plays once more.
Despite all of the excitement Alabama offered on Saturday night, more work is ahead. As Jerry Palm predicts, Alabama should finish 10-2 after the games against Mercer, Oklahoma, and Auburn, but its revitalized potential needs to keep expanding each week. There are solid reasons to think the Crimson Tide can contend for a title in December and January.