Everything Kalen DeBoer said to kick off Wisconsin game week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer spoke to reporters on Monday of Wisconsin game week. Here is everything DeBoer said to kick off game week No. 3.

DeBoer’s opening statement…

“Good morning. Just thought, overall, guys did a good job of taking everything we worked on during the week, transferring the game plan over to the game, and just, I think, the week in general they focused on us, focused on our preparation. The Week 1 to Week 2 improvements that you’d expect to have, that you needed to have, they did a nice job, and that’s across the board.

“Questions about Ty, I’m sure on that, your quarterback’s always, I mean, kind of a controller of that, and he did a nice job. I think guys did a nice job of channeling the energy that needed to have happen throughout the week in the right things, just focused on the right areas. And so, I thought they did a nice job there with that.

“Three takeaways, no turnovers. Love to see that. Two of them were fumbles. Last year, we got a lot of interceptions, and so, I love to see the aggression there, popping the ball loose. And those are things that get contagious, and I thought, talked to the team a lot about that and how that’s got to carry over into this next week.

“But going to Wisconsin and just a ton of respect for Coach Fickell. We got to move forward, we got to stack days, we got to continue to sustain the effort, sustain the energy and continue to focus on our fundamentals. A lot of young guys got some experience that I think was really good. Guys were understanding their roles, and you continue to move forward with that and have a big week here.

“Play again in Bryant-Denny Stadium, it’s good to be at home. Guys really can feel the juice and the energy from the fans, and it helps when you make the plays to give them something to cheer about, too. So, just a lot of positives, and we got to keep it going.”

DeBoer on Saturday’s QB plan being similar to Jake Haener at Fresno State…

“It’s something I’ve done a number of times over the years, going way back, but that’s one of the more recent ones. Jake bowed up, he bowed up, and I thought Ty responded pretty well, too. It’s one of those that they kind of question, probably, at first — why? But I think competition is just going to bring out the best in everyone, and I think that did that for Ty in his week of preparation. Obviously, it helps Austin. It gives him some energy to really go out there, and we’re looking at him, got some quality snaps in the game.

“And across the board, we did that. We do that at other positions and don’t really think twice about it. We got a rotation, rotating in at defensive positions. We do that at the offensive line, receiver personnel groupings. We’re doing a lot of that. So, again, competition, helping bring out the best, and that’s what Jake did, and I think that’s what Ty did here this last week.”

DeBoer on Lotzeir Brooks; if his play could impact where Ryan Williams plays…

“I think that’s certainly a really valid question and a thought process that we’re going to continue to go through. Lotty’s built up a lot of momentum. When I say Lotty— Lotzier. Built up a lot of momentum here in the last three or four weeks. He had a nice spring and made some plays on Saturday and so got some confidence in him. Made guys miss, had some big catches on third down. In the first game, he played with some aggression on some special teams plays that we were hoping for, and he came through. 

“As far as how it affects everything, it adds him to the mix, which then moves people around. It doesn’t mean you have to play everyone in the same spot the whole game. I think Germ can play inside and outside. I think Ryan can play inside and outside. We’ve just got to be continually evaluating that throughout the season, and different dynamics will change too that are maybe unknown right now, fortunate or unfortunate. Ryan’s got that versatility. He’s taken a number of snaps inside, but we know what he can do outside, too. He made a lot of nice plays, as we all know, on the outside. I thought Isaiah, Germ, they did some nice things, too. Rico did his thing both inside and outside. We’ve got a lot of versatility with the guys, we’ve just got to continue to hone in on how it all fits together.”

DeBoer on Jam Miller’s availability for Wisconsin…

“We’ve got a number of guys that are day-to-day, and he would certainly be one of them. We’re optimistic that there could be a chance. I really don’t think we’ll know until later in the week. You saw him in pregame. He was out there doing some things aggressively, trying to continue to push forward. You can see that with Jam. He’s chomping at the bit. We’ve just got to make sure we’re making a smart decision. That will be left up to our training staff and our doctors and also how Jam feels. He’s making a lot of progress.”

DeBoer on his viral pregame moment with Tim Keenan…

“TK, I can say this, he really missed not being at the game in Week 1. He’s a high-energy guy, and I know that I really challenged him and told him we needed that for our team. It wouldn’t surprise me that we had that exchange. Him bringing that energy not just to our players, but our coaching staff, including me. I really appreciate it. He’s a captain. He’s poured into this program a lot. I do remember now. It was on the sideline there, him standing right there right before kickoff. That’s just TK. He loves this team, and he’s been nothing but the high-end support and giving everything you got. I feel very supported by him for sure, to answer your question.”

DeBoer on his approach to penalty prevention…

“Each side of the ball has their own ways. You know, the foolish ones are the ones you really address. The takes no talent ones. You know, there’s consequences for every one of them. As far as how it’s gone into the games, we came back, and I thought we had some aggressive penalties, some unfortunate situations, I thought, in the game. But it is what it is. We can’t live in the gray area, and that’s what we’ve emphasized all year. The targeting? Yeah, we have to lower our center of gravity. We have to do a better job and play through the ball carrier with a lower target. We can’t launch ourself helmet first. That’s the rules of the game. We have to be better. That’s a fundamental thing we continue to stress.

“I thought we made, again, good steps in the foolish penalty area, the mental mistakes and things like that. I thought we played aggressively through people. I’m thinking of Germ’s in particular that got called back. Just got to always keep learning. Our guys, believe me, they don’t want to have penalties and I think they are disciplined in what they do off the field does carry over. And I think they do a good job. It’s just going to be a matter of time before they get comfortable out there and we continue to show that it matters to us.” 

DeBoer on Wisconsin, the challenges it presents…

“We’ll certainly look at that. I think there’s a little more carryover with their defense just because it’s the same coordinator. You know you’re going to get a physical team. Typical Wisconsin. A lot of pride in who they are and what their identity is. And that showed up in the first two games. When it comes to the run game, every, just kind of, rock solid keeping things under wraps, be it 60 or 70 yards total in rushing over two games.

“They do what they do, and they got to do it with great technique and always. Balanced offense, I think, with the run game setting up the play action and the shots, try and get your free-access throws and get the ball up to receivers when you have to load the box. There’s some great fundamental things that they do. And we have to match the physicality with great effort. Do a great job of getting ball carriers down, getting them into situations, I think, is the name of the game, putting teams in down and distances that they don’t want to be in, make them uncomfortable. And you can pin your ears back and get to the quarterback.” 

DeBoer on what he saw from the offensive line, Michael Carroll on Saturday…

“I love the way he plays. Plays hard, plays really hard. He along with, you talk about Lotzeir. We played a lot of freshmen, a lot of young guys in a lot of different areas — offense, special teams, defense. I think he was one of those guys that has taken those steps and did a nice job. Got his first action, real action at the college level. Just like we talked about with the quarterback competition, just helps everyone. It helps Michael and his motivation to continue to get better every single day and give his best. It helps Wilkin. At guard, we had guys rotating in as well between Jaeden and Geno. Just across the board. It sends a message that we’re going to keep trying to find the guys that really give us the best chance to win. 

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