Kalen DeBoer debates how to get best out of Alabama in College Football Playoff

Alabama had obviously not played their best over the final month or so of the regular season and into the SEC Championship. However, the Crimson Tide seemed to find something as their first game went on in the College Football Playoff, and it’s now on Kalen DeBoer to get that out of them again in their quarterfinal game at the Rose Bowl.

DeBoer discussed getting the best out of ‘Bama earlier this week while appearing on The Triple Option podcast. He said it all starts with the Tide once again playing like a team, in trusting every phase of the game, when they take the field again for their quarterfinal in the CFP.

“Well, yeah, and, again, we started out slow, but I thought, really, the last two and a half to three quarters, we really played well, we really played team football. And that’s where it starts,” DeBoer said on the Triple Option podcast. “I think that’s one thing we have, is we have a real team. And, you know, again, the SEC Championship was something that, you know, really was frustrating for our guys. (We) know we didn’t play our best, but, you keep working back, there’s just been these moments where the team just always rises to the top and guys are playing for each other. And, I think our guys truly believe that, you know, when you play great competition, there are going to be plays, there are going to be times and moments where it doesn’t go perfect. But, the other side of the ball, the other phase of the game is going to figure it out. They’re going to make an adjustment. They’re going to get back on a roll.

“Once we really settled in, I thought both coordinators made some good adjustments,” DeBoer added of his team’s performance against Oklahoma. “I thought our coordinators, and our players, did as good of a job in this game as we have all season long of just staying the course but also adjusting to the moment.”

Again, Alabama did not look like the team they had been over the early portion of the season during their final six weeks going into the postseason. They went from winning five straight power-level games in just over a month, four of those opening conference play against competition in the top-sixteen, to losing two of their final five with the three wins coming by eleven points or less.

That looked to be continuing, and nearly got them eliminated, in their first-round game of the CFP, starting down 17-0 by early in the second quarter, against Oklahoma. However, Alabama found something from there, as the Tide outscored the Sooners at 34-7 the rest of the way to win and advance from Norman.

DeBoer also credited the best version of his team to just getting healthier. ‘Bama, like all teams this late in the season, has been dealing with some key injuries, but, with the time off going into the playoff, he said they were as healthy last week as they’ve been since that midseason inflection point where they’d seemingly trended down ever since.

“Especially, in this game, we had guys a little healthier, and we were able to, I think, play for four quarters, so we had more guys hitting top speeds than really any other game other than Tennessee. We had the most guys playing the fastest in this game all season long. It was tied with the Tennessee game, so that was quite a while ago. And so, you know, that was great to see,” DeBoer added. “We talked to the guys about that, and that motivates me even more to be in the weight room and conditioning that they were just doing here again today.”

Simply, nothing but their best will be good enough from here on out for No. 9 Alabama, especially next up with No. 1 Indiana waiting for them in Pasadena. The Tide may have found some of what they’d been missing, though, and could bring more of that to the table against the Hoosiers come New Year’s Day.