As the first half of Alabama football’s narrow Saturday victory over South Carolina ticked away, Kalen DeBoer had a choice facing 3rd-and-19 from his own 38. He could let the half expire, and the Crimson Tide could head to the locker room with a 14-9 lead.

He could let the clock roll down, then use his final timeout with just enough time for one long play. Or, he could use it with 11 seconds left, and try to work the ball down the field to make a scoring play a bit easier.

That’s what he went with. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, Jalen Milroe threw an interception and the Gamecocks had one second, which they used to kick a 37-yard field goal, cutting UA’s lead to 14-12 at the break.

Afterward, DeBoer was asked about the decision.

“I’m thinking, if we can get one play to where we can throw it in the end zone on fourth down, and the clock ends with us having the football, I’m all for it,” DeBoer said. “Worst-case scenario, you take a sack or something, you have to punt it. I don’t like punting anytime, but that was, for me, the worst case scenario.”

Obviously, it did not turn out to be the worst case scenario for the Crimson Tide. UA’s slide at the end of the first half cost the Tide dearly, with the Gamecocks going from down 14-0 to 14-12 in the final two minutes.

Still, the choice to try and force the issue late in the half was a feature of DeBoer’s game plan, not a bug.

“That’s just the aggressiveness that I like to have,” DeBoer said. “We’ll talk about the trust. I think the guys appreciate when you put the trust in them, but we do have to learn from those things when they do happen, because obviously they got three points out of it. Probably the last thing I was thinking about when it did happen.”

Alabama moved to 5-1 on the season with the 27-25 win, 2-1 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide faces Tennessee in Knoxville next Saturday.