General
Alabama football is fresh off its worst loss of the season, losing 24-3 to unranked Oklahoma on the road.
Now the Crimson Tide must turn its attention to the Iron Bowl as it prepares to face Auburn on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack held their weekly press conferences to look back at the Oklahoma loss and discuss the upcoming matchup with Auburn.
Here’s a recap of some of what they said.
Live updates: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama coordinators hold press conferences before Iron Bowl
Kalen DeBoer:
— “I think our inability to create explosives (against Oklahoma)… I always look at that.”
— “They want to know the facts. They want to know the details. We’ve addressed those. Our attention turns to the Iron Bowl now.”
— 10 scholarship players, nine walk-ons will be recognized at senior day against Auburn.
— Deontae Lawson will be out for the season, DeBoer confirms. “Amazing leader … I can see not just what he means to us on the field, but the love our players have for him .. seeing what he pours into it, I know we all feel for him.”
— DeBoer on Jalen Milroe’s effort on the pick six: “He’s got to find a way to get him out of bounds.”
— DeBoer on Justice Haynes’ health: “A lot of guys working through things all season. He’s certainly one of them.”
— “I think I hear about it every day” DeBoer said of the Iron Bowl.
— “He has a team-first mindset” DeBoer said of Justin Jefferson, who will fill in for Deontae Lawson.
— DeBoer on the lack of consistency: “Disappointing, I feel like we’ve done a good job of building up the last month the consistency in all areas … We didn’t have that momentum you need to go into the environment. We let that environment be what it was because we didn’t grab ahold of it like LSU.”
— “Try to find a way to get one more score here at the end of the third quarter” DeBoer said of his message to the coaches and team in the third quarter.
— “We had a chance to cut into that lead, and we didn‘t. That led to a fourth quarter where you’re trying to find any way to create explosive plays.”
— DeBoer on the illegal touching call: “There has been communication. Nothing you can really do now. The game is over .. You move on. We’re focused on the Iron Bowl.”
— DeBoer on roster management: “I think that’s one thing with our staff, the relationships that exist, there are little conversations that happen periodically … because they feel open to talk to our staff. There are different levels of conversations … That’s not the focus right now. The focus is on the Iron Bowl.”
— DeBoer on the Iron Bowl: “It’s going to be an awesome environment.”
— DeBoer said being undefeated at home is a big deal to him.
— DeBoer on the Iron Bowl: “I understand what took place a year ago and what it took to win that game.”
— DeBoer on the game plan against OU and in-game adjustments: “I think the very end of the game was different because of the nature of what the score was … I felt like offensively, a lot of it was sticking to the plan. I think our plan was good. We didn’t get a chance to get into the offense enough to be able to create the explosives … It didn’t develop. There wasn’t a rhythm.”
— “We lost … When you lose, you lose. It’s just sickening every time it happens. That feeling in your gut is there.”
— “We fell short. We didn’t play the level we’re capable of.”
— “We had a lot of consistency for a month, and that wasn’t it on Saturday.”
— Kalen DeBoer on Cam Coleman: “He’s extremely impressive. He’s made a lot of plays for them this year.”
Nick Sheridan:
— What he teaches quarterbacks to do on interceptions: “The No. 1 priority is to get the guy down” and Sheridan said Alabama didn’t do well enough there to get the guy down on the pick six vs. Oklahoma.
— Nick Sheridan on coaching points to Jalen Milroe running: “Encouraging him to be a little bit more north south in those moments.”
— Sheridan on in game adjustments: “Saturday, not good enough … None of us did a good enough job to put our team in a position to win. That certainly starts with me.”
— Sheridan on how Jalen Milroe has responded: “He’s a very prideful player. He takes accountability in the things he can do better. Everyone was disappointed … I thought his response was to be expected. He has a lot of pride in his performance.”
— “It’s a hardworking group, and I know they’ll respond the right way.”
— Sheridan on the drops: “Not something we expected to be an issue going into the game.”
Kane Wommack:
— “A ton of run game. That was kind of the way they were going to see the game, to try to run the football … You give up seven explosive runs … That really ultimately was the thing we couldn’t give up.”
— Wommack said Alabama defense is not consistent enough.
— “I thought we adjusted well in the second half … It just wasn’t enough.”
— Wommack pointed out how Alabama really needed a stop right before halftime but gave up a touchdown.
— “They understand what this week means to our university” facing Auburn.
— Wommack notes he has known Hugh Freeze for a long time.
— “From a run game standpoint, they present a number of challenges for you” Wommack said about Auburn.
— Wommack said he saw a bunch of quarterback-option offense from Oklahoma.
— Wommack on Deontae Lawson’s status: “Deontae won’t be with us this week in the game. I’ll let coach handle it from that point forward.”
— When you lose a guy (in Lawson), who’s really your steady maker in the box, and does such a great job with the green dot communication … that’s a tough loss for sure.”
— “Justin Jefferson stepped up in the second half and really did a good job.”
— Justin Jefferson has done work with the green dot communication. “Justin Jefferson will take the majority of the responsibility” of green dot.
— Wommack praised how Jah-Marien Latham handled going from Bandit to Wolf in one week. “Appreciate him doing that. To have to move positions … that’s what great about some of our leaders.”
— Kane Wommack on issues in the first half against Oklahoma: “You’re going to give up some yards with an option-style team.” But the key is not giving up explosives.
— Wommack on the Hugh Freeze offense: “Like any good coordinator, he has found ways over the years to adjust to his personnel … they’re committed to running the football, and they’re committed to creating explosive passing plays down the field.” Wommack mentioned RPOs being a key part.
— Wommack on anything he wished he would have changed in how he called the game: “There are probably two or three things where I would have rather called this than that … What could I have called to put us in a better position?”
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
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