Kalen DeBoer, Team Leaders Message to Dijon Lee After Rough Outing

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Crimson Tide fell to the Georgia Bulldogs 20-17 in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night, and while the loss stings for the Crimson Tide faithful, sophomore cornerback Dijon Lee Jr. had arguably the worst night of any in crimson.

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Lee, who has had an up-and-down start to his sophomore campaign, gave up a handful of big plays in the passing game, playing in perfect position, but failing to turn his head at the last moment to make a play on the ball. He gave up a pair of first-down conversions in the first quarter, was in coverage on a crucial third down during Georgia's lone touchdown drive of the second half, and the growing frustrations of his sophomore season boiled over in the fourth quarter, with Lee striking Georgia wide receiver Craig Dandridge twice after the whistle had been blown. The first shove drew the attention of the officials, while the second one drew a flag after a one-yard gain on 2nd and 3, giving the Dawgs their final first down of the game. Georgia would take a knee on the next three plays to defeat Alabama 20-17 in Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2007.

The emotions were running hot on the Alabama sideline on Saturday night. After Lee returned to the sideline, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer ripped him a new one up and down the sideline in a very Saban-esque manner. Teammates and staffers pulled Lee back to his head coach while DeBoer continued yelling at his sophomore cornerback.

It's a tough coaching moment that has taken social media by storm, with many criticizing DeBoer for publicly laying into one of his players on national television, while others praised him for channeling his inner Nick Saban, the six-time national champion-winning head coach with the Crimson Tide, and DeBoer's predecessor, who became famous for his "ass chewings" on the sidelines when a player did not have the proper attention to detail.

After the game, the Tide's head coach had a more subdued reaction to Lee's penalty late in the contest against the Bulldogs, but highlighted the emotional maturity needed in those moments.

"We preach emotional maturity, and I really feel strong that, across the board, we had that with our team, and would have never expected that to happen. You gotta give yourself a chance. And we just talked about it a year ago- what happened the other way," DeBoer said.

The moment in reference came late in the Tide's 24-21 win over Georgia in Athens last season, when Alabama converted a 3rd and 1 on a quarterback sneak by Ty Simpson. Georgia defensive back Ellis Robinson IV jumped on a dog pile after the whistle, giving Alabama another free 15 yards as the Tide looked to clinch the game.

"Same situation, kind of about the same time in the game, the opposite way. And you’re out there giving everything you got, you just gotta give yourself a chance," he continued, "and so emotional maturity is what it comes down to. And we’ve been pretty good at that going on the last two years. Obviously, when the moment comes up, like we had just now, we didn’t respond the right way.”

Alabama's leaders in the secondary reacted to the penalty after the game, showing that while they've got their teammates' back, decisions like the one made on Saturday night are not what Alabama needs if the Tide hopes to play winning football.

"He's my brother 'til we die, so obviously I try to uplift him, but there's a standard that we need to play with," safety Keon Sabb said. "On that play, he wasn't up to the standard. It will be addressed."

"We just got to stay locked in, all across the board. We talk about having no foolish penalties. That's kind of a crucial penalty. What was it, going to be third down? We hold them there; they have to punt the ball and give the ball back to our offense. Instead, the chains move, and as soon as the ref blows the whistle, the clock starts ticking, and we go into the two-minute timeout. We basically gave them that," safety and team captain Bray Hubbard said.

Alabama replaced Lee with Mercer transfer Carmelo O'Neal, but Georgia lined up in victory formation and didn't run any actual plays. O'Neal has rotated with Lee at cornerback in each of the first six games this season, similarly to how Lee rotated with Domani Jackson last year.

Alabama falls to 5-1 (3-1) with the three-point loss to Georgia on Saturday night. The Bulldogs advance to 6-0 (4-0) with the win in Tuscaloosa. Alabama will look to rebound after a disappointing loss when it travels to Knoxville, Tennessee, to face the 15th-ranked Volunteers in Neyland Stadium next Saturday, October 17.

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_.