Alabama Coaches Aware of Road Struggles

It's no secret Alabama has struggled in road games since the 2020 national championship season, and the problem has been amplified by Kalen DeBoer's road struggles against unranked teams during his tenure at Alabama.

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DeBoer holds an 11-5 record as Alabama's head coach, with four of the five losses coming to unranked opponents away from Bryant-Denny Stadium (Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Florida State on the road, Michigan in a neutral site). Alabama will face its toughest challenge of the Kalen DeBoer era yet on Saturday, when the Crimson Tide travels to Athens, Georgia, for a date with the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Kick off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

The road struggles are something the Crimson Tide's coaching staff is aware of, and they aren't shying away from questions about the struggles on the road.

"Whatever we've asked of this group, they've just been so coachable. Just think talking through and going through what we've experienced together, you've got to prove it on the football field, but the way they want to respond in practice, I think has carried over into what we've done at least in these home games the last two weeks," Kalen DeBoer said on Monday. "We've got to be resilient. We know there are going to be storms we have to weather in the SEC, on the road, and you've got to do it. No one else is going to go do it for you. I know there's a high want-to factor this group has. They've shown it in the work. They've shown it in their preparation.

"That's the key. Really just prepare, invest, and do everything you can to be confident and do something special together. Just ask these guys to empty the tank every single day. And they've done that. That's what we've got to do on Saturday. We're going to have to be resilient. Understand that adversity against good football teams is going to happen. Know what our response is going to be, choose our response, and understand what that looks like even now, not just when it happens."

"Yeah, conversations that we have, I think, Coach DeBoer has a very good pulse for our football team right now," Kane Wommack said. "I think we've made some adjustments to give ourselves the best chance to be able to play responsive football on the road in adverse situations. And so for us as a football team, it's a mindfulness. I think our players, they're great young men, they're great kids. Whatever we emphasize, we tend to get from our players.

"And so we have made that a huge point of emphasis. I think you've seen that at home in the energy and juice that we've brought from our sideline, the passion that our guys have played with the last two games. But there's a difference when you have to go on the road, particularly in the SEC, and in a hostile environment, and respond to adversity. I thought at times, we have been a team that has been reactionary to adversity, and we have to be more responsive. It's at the forefront of our minds, and I expect to see a very responsive football team on Saturday."

Alabama will face Georgia in Athens, Georgia, on September 27. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.