Everything Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama's 23-21 loss to Oklahoma

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 4 Alabama lost to No. 11 Oklahoma, 23-21, on Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium. After the Crimson Tide’s second loss of the season, head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters. Below is everything DeBoer said in his postgame presser.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Just really disappointed in the outcome. And we played a lot of great snaps out there, but the turnover battle, obviously, we got killed there, and that became the game. And we’ve done a great job of taking care of it. We’ve done a good job of taking it off of teams. And I think it was probably 17 points coming off of turnovers, and a short field at the beginning, where they got a field goal on the punt return. So, we missed our opportunities, for sure, and that’s what hurts so much. I have no doubt about how we’ll respond. But the guys are disappointed and frustrated about how this ended up here, because that’s the moment we’re in.”

DeBoer on the frustration of nearly doubling OU in yards and losing…

“Yeah, that’s it. I mean, I just feel like throughout the game, we really didn’t feel like we couldn’t move the ball, felt like we couldn’t put it in the end zone. There was just these one-off plays that were the takeaways, and then it just became an uphill battle. If you can take the lead and extend the lead when it was 21-20, then it can potentially become a whole different game. And again, the guys are gonna fight. I know the character of the team. But that’s the part that is just really frustrating for everyone, is that you win the time of possession, you win everything, pretty much, total yards, and you come away with a loss. And so, again, they’re a good football team, and when you give them those chances, that’s what you get.”

DeBoer on what went wrong on the missed field goal…

“It’s a little bit of the same as the last time that we missed one. It’s just, you can get a little better snap, but we can make the kick, too. It’s a little bit of everything on the execution from snap to the kick. And so, we gotta find a way to kick it through when it’s not perfect. We gotta find a way to execute better just on the whole thing, on the whole operation.”

DeBoer on Alabama’s strategy on the final drive…

“You don’t start that way. You’re just trying to get it out of your own end zone. With the ball on our own six, you’re just trying to get a first down, and then you’re trying to get another one. And felt good about the situation. We knew we just needed a field goal to win it. But it was more about just getting out of your own territory. And even if we had to punt with the two timeouts, and you’re thinking the two-minute warning, that we can flip the field and get an opportunity there. But then, just the grind that it was, it becomes a situation where you get down to two minutes, and again, that wasn’t what the intention was going in, is to have this be one possession. I think most people would be on the same page, thinking that you probably got two possessions here left to go win it.”

DeBoer on if he sees a larger trend/troubling for the offense…

“Well, I think we had almost 275 yards in the first half. What’s disappointing is the turnovers, because even the interception, we were working in deep into their territory — the interception for a touchdown. And then we just gave them the ball in our own territory a couple times there. So I felt like, yeah, it wasn’t perfect, but we were facing a very good defense, and we understood that. And I felt like we were executing better today than we have, probably, the previous couple weeks against a very, again, against a very good defense. And so, just the big mistakes are the ones that hurt us.”

DeBoer on if the run game took a step forward…

“I think it felt like there was opportunities where we had seams to run the football more so than we have. And there’s still times — again, they’re very good against the run. And so, I’ll watch the film in more detail and see. But I thought our effort, I thought our belief in doing it is continuing to head in the right direction.”

DeBoer on his message to Ty Simpson on fumbles…

“With the pressure that they brought, he’s gotta get rid of it and be OK with throwing it away. You can only hold on so long. And I feel like with the blitz they had, you’re gonna get overwhelmed and outnumbered. And so, you just gotta understand the situation. I know it’s third down, and he wants to stay on the field. But you just gotta understand, your defense is playing pretty good, too, and you just gotta live with punting once in a while.”

DeBoer on if there is too much on Simpson’s shoulders…

“No, I think we had enough quick game. I think we had enough quick throws out there. We were pretty efficient doing it, and guys were making plays, and I thought he managed it well. It’s just, again, this game could have gone a whole different direction. One play got him with the pressure and the interception for a touchdown, and the strip-sack that we’re talking about. So I thought he, again, it goes back to most of the snaps, we played pretty good football. But it’s the ones that were big that really hurt us.”

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