Alabama Unwavering in Preparation Details Despite New Road Environment

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Under head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Alabama Crimson Tide seemingly struggled in new environments on the road. In 2024, Alabama won just two games away from Bryant-Denny Stadium, with losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Oklahoma on the road. One of Alabama's road wins, at Wisconsin, was a place Kalen DeBoer was familiar with after his stint as Indiana's offensive coordinator during his time in the Big Ten.

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In 2025, Alabama again struggled in new places, losing its season opener against Florida State in Tallahassee before falling in the SEC Championship in Atlanta, and again losing away from Bryant-Denny Stadium in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Tide also struggled in Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia, Missouri, Athens, Georgia, and Auburn, Alabama, winning each of those games by one score.

In the lone road game to start the 2026 season for the Crimson Tide, Alabama looked like the Crimson Tide of old, scoring 32 unanswered points in the second half en route to a dominating win at Kentucky, 45-17. The Tide now faces another new place for DeBoer and many of his players, traveling to Starkville, Mississippi, this weekend to face No. 16 Mississippi State.

With the Tide's massive success on the road so far this season, head coach Kalen DeBoer hasn't changed his approach to big road games ahead of Alabama's first trip to Starkville since 2023.

"No, I think the crowd noise and everything we're doing during the week is important. You want to be able to incorporate that in. Every coordinator does it a little different -- even Coach Wommack has to work on it. We had issues we worked through, even with our home crowd noise -- we want that now, keep that going, OK," DeBoer said, tongue in cheek. "We'll figure that out. Just little pieces of communication that we need to clean up. That's where, from week to week, we know that this week we have to worry about crowd noise.

"Probably a lot of cowbells we'll be hearing during practice in one form or fashion. Just this week, I think the other thing is an early game. An 11 o'clock kickoff. We're a morning practice team. We've had some success with those morning games, but we got to go on the road and travel that morning, so it's gonna be a little different -- different setup that way, too. Just being intentional. Challenging our guys. These guys all care. They care so much. They'll put the work in. They'll be intentional. They'll bank some sleep, some extra hours, to make sure they're ready to go on Saturday."

Alabama will depart Tuscaloosa on Saturday morning for its matchup with Mississippi State, which is just an hour-and-a-half from Tuscaloosa down Highway 82. While the rivalry between the two closest teams in the SEC has been largely one-sided, DeBoer knows the significance of the Battle of Highway 82 and what the game means for both Mississippi State and Alabama.

"Just personally, this is one of those stadiums I haven't been in, played in, no matter where I've been. Just what I hear from the people that I trust, it's gonna be an absolute crazy environment," DeBoer said on Monday. "We're gonna be prepared for that. We talked about that as a team this morning. We're looking for that challenge. We got to improve on the way we started the last road game."

Last time Alabama went on the road in week two against Kentucky, the Crimson Tide's first half drive chart looked like:

• Interception
• Fumble
• Field Goal
• Field Goal
• Interception

"I think we've made a lot of strides in that way. We've learned and grown since then," he said. "The week of preparation and us being our best is gonna be important for us to go out there and do what we need to do to have success on Saturday against Mississippi, which is, again, playing really good football."

In the second half against the Wildcats, the Crimson Tide turned up the heat, scoring 31 unanswered points:

• Field Goal
• Touchdown
• Touchdown
• Touchdown
• Touchdown
• End of Game

No. 7 Alabama will travel to Starkville, Mississippi, for a date with the No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, October 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on ABC.

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_.