There was no panic in the voice of Kalen DeBoer late Friday night, even as Alabama found itself buried early inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Down 17 points on the road, the Crimson Tide did not chase urgency. They relied on belief.
“We just couldn’t be more proud of these guys, the resiliency,” DeBoer said after Alabama’s 34–24 comeback win. “It showed up tonight in a big way, on the road, down 17.”
That belief became the backbone of Alabama’s response. DeBoer repeatedly returned to a message that framed the comeback long before momentum shifted.
“You can’t score a 17-point touchdown,” he said. “You’ve got to go score one score, even if it’s three points.”
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Alabama followed that blueprint with discipline. There was no visible fracturing on the sideline, no frantic adjustment spree in the headset. DeBoer admitted he felt encouraged even before the late second-quarter pick-six interception further swung momentum.
“If we can go in 17–10 and get the ball to start the second half, we’ve clawed our way back in,” he said. “I actually felt really good about the spot we were in.”
That confidence flowed through the operation. DeBoer empowered his quarterback to lead with energy, trusted his defense to keep applying pressure, and relied on special teams to flip field position. When faced with a critical fourth-and-six later in the game, he chose points over aggression.
“To go up 10 and make it a two-score game, that was actually a pretty easy decision,” DeBoer said.
The contrast to past road struggles was clear. Where previous Alabama teams sometimes unraveled under early adversity, this group stayed connected.
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“There’s never been any finger pointing,” DeBoer said. “We always talk about the game is going to come back to us. Just keep fighting.”
Alabama didn’t overwhelm Oklahoma with flash or speed. It absorbed pressure, trusted its structure, and finished when the game finally tilted. For DeBoer, that’s the growth he’s been searching for.
“We just stayed the course,” he said. “Everyone did a little bit better, and then plays get made.”
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