Welcome to College Football, Hollywood

For the first time since 2006, someone not named Nick Saban was the man leading the University of Alabama onto the field.

As Thunderstruck blared across the speakers in Bryant-Denny Stadium, Kalen DeBoer, wearing all black to the Hilltoppers' funeral, took the field for the first time as the head coach of the Crimson Tide. The Crimson Tide toppled the Hilltoppers 63-0 in the first game of the Kalen DeBoer era.

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The Crimson Tide's offense wasn't as smooth as many had hoped, but it's game one after players spent all offseason not only learning a new offense but learning new terminology and new coaches.

Despite some of the missteps on offense in the first quarter, the Crimson Tide began to knock the rust off and showed how strong they can be, putting up 42 points just in the first half of play.

After the first drive ended in a three-and-out, Alabama did not punt again until the first drive of the third quarter.

Scoring Drives

The Tide's first touchdown drive took just 41 seconds off the clock. The two-play, 16-yard drive was set up by the Tide's transfer safety, Keon Sabb, who picked off Western Kentucky QB, TJ Finley. It was capped by a Jalen Milroe 12-yard rush for a touchdown. 7-0, Alabama.

The second drive was also set up by a Keon Sabb interception return. in three plays and 26 yards, Jalen Milroe found Kendrick Law, who cut inside the left hashmark for a 22-yard touchdown reception. 14-0, Alabama.

Ryan "Hollywood" Williams couldn't be kept off the field for very long, as the Crimson Tide superstar freshman hauled in the 84-yard pass from Jalen Milroe for a touchdown, taking advantage of the busted coverage by Western Kentucky. 21-0, Alabama.

Jalen Milroe took the ball from the Alabama four-yard line to midfield, then a Western Kentucky penalty gave Alabama another 10 yards. Jam Miller ended the drive on the next play, scoring from 39 yards out. 28-0, Alabama.

Another two-play drive saw the Crimson Tide find its way into the endzone thanks to an astonishing 85-yard touchdown run by Justice Haynes. 35-0, Alabama.

Alabama called timeout just after the two-minute timeout, and once again, Hollywood showed he's prepared for the biggest moments by breaking two tackles and taking the slant from Milroe for a 55-yard touchdown. Alabama took a 42-0 lead into halftime.

It took two drives for Alabama to find the endzone again following halftime. Milroe took the power run on the second drive for a 21-yard touchdown. 49-0, Alabama.

The backups began to take over as Alabama began to distance itself by almost double the pregame spread (31.5 points). Ty Simpson came in as the QB, and the running back room turned into the definition of a committee. Daniel Hill, a true freshman from Meridian, Mississippi, scored his first collegiate touchdown of his career on a two-yard dive. 56-0, Alabama.

As the game began to wrap up, Ty Simpson showed some wheels on a 15-yard touchdown run to push Alabama's lead to double the spread. 63-0, Alabama.

Stat Leaders

Jalen Milroe: 7-9, 200 yards, 3 TD, 79 rush yards, 2 TD.
Justice Haynes:
Ryan Williams: 2 catches, 139 yards, 2 TD
Denotae Lawson: 9 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU.

Analysis

The Crimson Tide throttled a lesser opponent under the lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium, as expected. Alabama looked a little rusky on offense, but that is to be expected for a unit that had to learn something completely new over the offseason. It was odd seeing someone other than Nick Saban lead the Crimson Tide onto the field, but Kalen DeBoer was probably the best person to do it.

We discussed earlier on Saturday what Alabama would have to do in order to compete for a national championship in 2024. If the Crimson Tide averages 600 yards of total offense and 63 points per game, they'll be in a pretty good spot. The Crimson Tide surrendered 145 yards and no points as a defensive unit on Saturday.

The offense struggled at times with the new motion sets, and the offensive line struggled to get push up front in the run game. That seemed resolved later in the game, with the Crimson Tide totaling over 200 yards rushing. However, Alabama still has four weeks until its first major test of the season against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Crimson Tide's offense did not show too much on Saturday night but did feature a handful of jet sweeps to keep the defense guessing. Alabama will keep the cupboard pretty secure next week against South Florida as well, then start to provide a peak behind the curtain when they travel to Madison to take on Wisconsin.

Let's talk about the defense, though. Kane Wommack's crew looked confident and secure in their decision-making, even when mistakes were made. There were a couple of lapses in Alabama's communication defensively, but the defense rotated over 25 players onto the field (before the game was grossly out of hand). Young playmakers showed up in multiple ways - Zabien Brown did not give up a catch, Jaylen Mbakwe showed his elite closing speed, Keon Sabb was the likely defensive MVP with two picks to start the game, and Deontae Lawson led the team in tackles on the night.

The Crimson Tide showed a little bit of its desire defensively. When it came time to "pin their ears back" and really rush the passer, Jihaad Campbell dropped down to play the old "edge" position Alabama had under the Nick Saban scheme and Que Robinson made his way onto the field. Robinson's speed was eye-popping, getting to the quarterback every time he took the field on third down. Campbell drew comparisons to an All-Pro NFL defender on Saturday: Micah Parsons.

The biggest takeaways in games like these are always injuries and young players getting playing time. Ryan Williams looks to potentially be the wide receiver No. 1 in this offense following a stellar debut, while Zabien Brown and a flurry of young defensive backs made plays when Alabama needed them to.

The area of concern happened before the game, however. Kadyn Proctor left the starting offensive line during the pregame warm-ups and returned with his left arm in a sling and street clothes. How long will the Tide be without its top tackle option?

Overall, the takeaways in a game like this are that football is back, Alabama's offense steamrolled, and Alabama's defense dictated the level of play for the opposing offense, which has given this defensive scheme fits in the past.

24-hour rule is now on deck before the Crimson Tide turns its attention to the USF Bulls.

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_.