LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kalen DeBoer achieved a first in his two-plus-year career as coach at Alabama on Saturday: He won a game after trailing at halftime, coming from behind to route upstart Kentucky 45-17 behind a strong defense and a resurgent running game.
DeBoer, who is 22-8 overall at Alabama, had been 0-7 in such games.
"Far from a perfect game," DeBoer said in his opening statement afterward, "but one of those games that I'm really proud of the guys. And I told them that. It's not indicative of the things we have to clean up. But we faced a lot of resiliency in different ways."
Some of those challenging situations were self-inflicted. The offense posted three first-half turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown. Some poorly timed penalties on defense aided Kentucky scoring drives.
Other challenges were beyond Alabama's control. DeBoer said that headset communication between the offensive coordinator and quarterback stopped working in the third quarter.
DeBoer said he saw his team maintain an even keel in the locker room at halftime, though, despite trailing 17-14 on the road. Veterans Zabien Brown and Ryan Coleman-Williams were calming influences, DeBoer explained. And quarterback Keelon Russell, who was responsible for those turnovers, "went over to the other side [the defense] and just owned some of the things that he fell short on," the coach said.
"I felt like it was almost like getting locked in and getting refocused and just knowing the game was going to be ours," DeBoer said.
As he later added, "Doing what we did and winning the second half builds belief, builds trust. You got to go through those experiences really for it to shape and build your team."
The defense, led by coordinator Kane Wommack, stepped up and pitched a shutout in the second half, forcing two fumbles and two turnovers on downs. Kentucky's offense managed only 209 yards and one third-down conversion on 14 attempts.
Alabama's much-maligned running game came to life in the third and fourth quarters. Bruising tailback Daniel Hill finished with 104 yards and a touchdown, and the Crimson Tide's rushing as a whole produced 184 yards when adjusted for sacks.
But it's clear that for Alabama to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff, Russell must play better. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. He ran for minus-9 yards on eight carries.
DeBoer was critical of some of Russell's decision-making on run-pass options and pointed out that he needs to find better passing lanes to avoid tipped and batted passes.
Still, DeBoer said his first-year starting signal-caller "stays cool, calm" in the face of adversity. It's on the coaching staff, DeBoer added, to help Russell understand situations and keep the offense on the field.
"I don't want to take his aggressiveness away from him because there's some plays that he made out there too," the coach said. "So, it's a fine line. He's going to go help us win games. And I thought he played winning football in the second half."
Russell, for his part, took ownership of his "sloppy mistakes."
"Obviously, the game was going very slow for me," he said. "Started out very slow. Like I said, I got to do better quarterback play going into next week, which I am. I desire to work hard this whole week to prepare myself."
Late in the Saturday's contest, with the outcome in hand and Russell's day finished, the quarterback found his head coach on the sideline. The two exchanged words.
Russell said he told DeBoer, "I'm willing to work my [intentional pause] off this week going into FSU."
"Got to fix the mistakes as a quarterback," Russell explained. "The world is going to say, 'Oh, he's a young quarterback.' And like I said last week, I don't describe myself as a young quarterback. I describe myself as a veteran quarterback. Anybody with the QB1 position should be the veteran of the team. So, you just got to exit the sloppy play as a quarterback."
Alabama will host Florida State next Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
The Tide lost to the Seminoles in the last season's opener at Tallahassee.
