The final score didn’t tell the full story of Alabama vs. USF on Saturday. The Crimson Tide were put to the test by the Bulls who were entangled in a one-possession game until just under six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
For the second straight season, Alex Golesh’s team has put Alabama to the test with the game in 2023 serving as a wake-up call of sorts as Nick Saban was able to right the ship and get his team to the College Football Playoff.
Despite the similar factors of penalties, lack of consistency in the passing game and not sustaining drives, head coach Kalen DeBoer refused to categorize the game as a wake-up call.
“Lot to learn from, DeBoer said to the media following the game. “Excited about the challenge, the opportunity. Because that’s what this is. You need games like this. This isn’t a wake-up call or anything like that. It’s nothing like that. It’s just, you know, keep raising standards. Like, this game last year was an important one that propelled them last year, and it will probably be the same thing this year. That’s my hope.”
There certainly will be a lot to learn from the 13 penalties committed by Alabama, two of which took touchdowns off the board. On top of the penalties were three momentum-halting fumbles coming from Jam Miller to start a drive, Kendrick Law on the opening kick of the second half and Jalen Milroe on third and goal in a one-point game.
DeBoer still opted to keep a positive spin on the results of the game hoping his team would look back on the fight it had in the one-point game to keep moving to the next play.
“In the locker room, again, we just talked about learning from it,” DeBoer said. “There’s some great lessons in learning that. If we just stay in the fight and we just keep playing, and we live to see another down, it’s amazing what this team can accomplish.
“Remember this time when it was 14-13, and you just kept swinging and just kept playing. I’m proud of that. That’s what it’s going to take to win some close games, even if they’re not pretty. Because all wins aren’t going to be that way.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
