Alabama football: Kalen DeBoer on injuries, Georgia practice report

Happy Thursday everyone. Hurricane Helene is devastating large parts of the Southeast today and our thoughts are with those affected. Please be safe.

Luckily, the weather forecast for Tuscaloosa on Saturday looks very good.

As Saturday’s contest approaches, many are beginning to question what impact Hurricane Helene could have on the game. With speculation about what role Mother Nature could play in this. Luckily, it appears this match likely won’t be affected.

According to The Weather Channel, it is The forecast for Saturday night’s game in Tuscaloosa is expected to be moderately warm. Afternoon temperatures are expected to reach a high of 76° and cool to a low of 62° in the evening, with a 15% chance of rain.

Alabama will be mostly healthy in this game and will need all of its strength to beat the favored Dawgs.

The Crimson Tide only listed three players in their Wednesday report. Linebackers Qua Russaw and Jeremiah Alexander are considered likely.

Running back Richard Young was also likely on the list.

Notable players not listed included Cole Adams and Malachi Moore. Moore suffered a head injury in the Wisconsin game and Adams injured his arm against South Florida.

Alabama and Georgia are scheduled to kick off in Tuscaloosa on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC.

Georgia is a little worse for wear, but still largely healthy.

Seven Georgia players were included in Wednesday’s availability report. Run back Roderick RobinsonWide receivers London Humphreysand right guard Tate Ratledge were listed as out; Defensive end Mykel WilliamsWide receivers Sacovie Whiteand defensive tackle Jordan Hall were classified as questionable; and defensive tackle Warren Brinson was classified as probable.

Kirby Smart was without Williams, Hall and Brinson in the last game against Kentucky.

Speaking of the Cats, Greg McElroy and Aaron Murray believe Alabama will have to repeat its defensive strategy on Saturday night.

Alabama would be wise to replicate Kentucky’s effort.

“Carson got hit early and often, which threw off the rhythm of the offense,” Murray said. “It’s going to be loud for Alabama, it’s going to be a night game. Can you just get it over with? Can you put Georgia in third-and-long situations where you can tee off?”

McElroy reiterated to Murray that putting pressure on Beck was the path to victory, if not the only path. McElroy doesn’t think there’s an easy answer to stopping the Bulldogs on offense. He sees many ways Georgia can counter the way you try to defend yourself. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo also calls the play based on the defense’s tendencies.

Joel Klatt agrees that Kirby will feel at least some pressure to win the first matchup after Saban.

“So this narrative around Kirby Smart is that he is, at least to me, the best coach in college football, but he couldn’t beat Nick Saban. So if Kirby Smart actually lost this game on Saturday, that would actually be a huge problem,” Klatt said. “Because it goes from a Nick Saban problem that Kirby Smart had to an Alabama problem that he still has. So the pressure is on Kirby because the story surrounding Kirby can almost be explained by the loss to Alabama.”

“His record speaks for itself. He was successful wherever he went. He is very confident in his work and his organizational methods. I think that is necessary in the situation he finds himself in. In the situation he’s in, you have to be pretty confident in your skin to go in there and do things your way, especially given the record they have. It seems like he did it without any problems.”

Kalen DeBoer’s current challenge is replacing a legend Nick Saban. This is a task that Kirby Smart has mastered cleverly so far.

“I think the smartest thing he did is he didn’t change everything. Offensively, they have some similarities because they have the same quarterback, and we’ll probably see a lot more wrinkles that they didn’t show, but overall they’ve retained some of the staples that they had last year because it’s probably That’s what makes the quarterback comfortable.”

Kalen DeBoer was optimistic on his radio show last night.

– PeeWee from Grand Bay was first as always. He praised Alabama’s offensive line play during the Wisconsin game and asked how the group has come together since that game. DeBoer said the group did a good job and it was helpful to get representatives during the off week. Says Alabama had more continuity in practice leading up to Georgia game.

– A caller asked about Keanu Koht and LT Overton. DeBoer praised the way Overton got to the quarterbacks and caused havoc at the line of scrimmage. Says Koht has athleticism and speed that will help the Crimson Tide.

– DeBoer was asked about Malachi Moore and said: “He’ll be back.”

— DeBoer: “After practice, I let the guys I really liked know where their heads were at. I felt the work was done to a high standard. The energy was great. You can tell by the focus. What you can really tell is if you just listen at practice, you can hear the communication, you can hear the guys being really thoughtful and concerned about making sure everyone is on the same page.

“And when the pads pop, you can see the high-intensity exercises. So I liked that part of us. But I also felt like we weren’t close and things like that.”

Most recently, DeBoer spoke on a podcast about the recruiting process that led him to Alabama.

“It’s actually quite simple,” DeBoer said. “We had our season. We flew back on Tuesday after Monday’s game, and on Wednesday Coach Saban is announcing his retirement.”

DeBoer then explained how and when Alabama made contact.

“And late, late, late Wednesday night my agent let me know that (Alabama athletic director) Greg Byrne wanted to meet, and that was literally the next day,” he added. “We were on the plane and it happened so quickly. So no assessment of interest other than: Hey, would you be interested in meeting? And that was that Wednesday evening.”

Pretty clear he was the first choice.

That’s it for now. I wish you a wonderful day.

Roll Tide.