DeBoer's first Alabama team falls from No. 1 to brink of playoff elimination
Alabama looked every bit the Nick Saban-style juggernaut through the first 15 minutes against fellow Southeastern Conference power Georgia.
Kalen DeBoer's 15th-ranked Crimson Tide team has looked downright mortal, perhaps even mediocre, since then during a sputtering run that has included costly penalties, errant passes from quarterback Jalen Milroe and a too often vulnerable defense.
The latest blow was a 24-17 loss to No. 7 Tennessee. It leaves Alabama (5-2, 2-2 SEC) with multiple losses before November for the first time since Saban's debut season in 2007 — and No. 21 Missouri (6-1, 2-1) visits on Saturday.
The ranking is Alabama's lowest since 2010, the only season in a 16-year span the Tide have lost as many as three times. Another loss would almost certainly eliminate DeBoer's team from even the new 12-team playoff field.
"We’ve got to have a starving mindset,” Milroe told reporters after Saturday's loss. “To want to get better, want to grind, want to be the best version of ourselves, want to be the best offense in the country. And a lot is still out there with the right mindset.”
Alabama has been outscored 123-92 since racing to a 28-0 lead over No. 2 Georgia. The Tide went on to win that game 41-34 with a late 75-yard bomb to freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams, followed by an interception in the end zone from fellow freshman Zabien Brown.
That vaulted Alabama to No. 1, albeit only briefly. A 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt followed.
“You can’t have the mistakes, you can’t have the penalties, got to have better execution,” DeBoer said on Monday. “All those things that put you behind the eight-ball throughout the course of the game. Here in the SEC there’s such a fine line between winning and losing and that’s how you get beat. That’s on all of us.”
Making matters tougher, cornerback Keon Sabb is hurt with what DeBoer described as “a lower extremity injury.”
“We’re still gathering information here, but we do expect him to be down for a while,” he said. “That could be an extended amount of time, and we’ll just continue to evaluate that."
A snapshot of the Tide’s woes.
— Alabama committed 15 penalties for 115 yards against Tennessee. The backbreaker was Kendrick Law's 15-yard personal foul to force the Tide into a fourth-and-22 situation in the final minutes. It fell short.
“Obviously in that moment, we’re fighting to try to find a way to win. It’s a big moment,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to make sure we of course address them. But we can’t continue to have mistakes, those in particular that we can control.”
The Volunteers intercepted Milroe's next and final pass after Alabama got the ball back.
— Milroe looked like a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate after the Georgia win. In the three games since, he has three touchdown passes and five interceptions while netting only 57 rushing yards after sacks.
— Alabama needed Domani Jackson's goal-line interception to hold on 27-25 against South Carolina. The Gamecocks had a third quarter touchdown drive when they converted all five third down attempts.
— The Tide offense needs to get the ball to playmakers beyond Williams. He was targeted 18 times against Tennessee and had eight catches for 73 yards. Germi Bernard caught five passes for 72 yards on five targets. Law was the only other wide receiver credited with a target on a non-penalty play.
Neither tailback, Jamarion Miller nor Justice Haynes, has rushed for more than 45 yards in an SEC game.
Alabama only faces one ranked team after the Missouri game, traveling to No. 8 LSU on Nov. 9.
“There's so much more football left,” Milroe said.
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