The Alabama Crimson Tide under Kalen DeBoer have never had a problem getting up for big games, now defeating Georgia twice as well as LSU, Missouri, Vanderbilt and others.
In fact, DeBoer’s specialty throughout his coaching career has been getting his team up for formidable opponents, now after the Tennessee game with a 19-3 record against ranked teams during his various tenures leading programs.
At Alabama, he has performed exceedingly well when the opponent had a number next to their name, which has been the case for the last four weeks during a historic streak against ranked opponents which has now spanned four games.
The problem for DeBoer has been having his team ready to go against an opponent that they are perceived to be much better than and not supposed to have an issue defeating, especially away from Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Games against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma last year ultimately wrecked the season, not to mention the disaster that was the bowl game against Michigan. For whatever reason to this point, DeBoer has not been able to root out the complacency that ultimately exists in the back of minds of young athletes, something his predecessor Nick Saban was the greatest ever at being able to do.
It happened again at Florida State.
This week for Alabama and DeBoer, it’s a road trip to South Carolina against a Gamecocks team who will be desperate to salvage their season against by grabbing a signature win over the Tide.
They still have a quarterback in LaNorris Sellers who is beyond capable of hurting any opponent he faces, and the crowd will be absolutely electric and tough to play against.
As Alabama tries to continue the momentum of what has been a special year since the first game ended, this is the kind of test that’s going to determine the mentality of the team. Have they learned from their mistakes and are taking the test seriously, or are they going to go through the motions again?
If this Tide team truly is the title contender it’s looked like over the past month, they will go and handle their business this week.
Either way, fans should find out a whole lot about what the character of this football team and coaching staff is.
