Road woes raise questions about Alabama’s direction under 2nd-year head coach Kalen DeBoer

Alabama hasn’t looked the same since coach Nick Saban’s retirement. It raises speculation about the future of his replacement, Kalen DeBoer.

The eighth-ranked Crimson Tide have dropped three of their last four games following a 31-17 loss at Florida State on Saturday, a game in which the Seminoles bullied Alabama on both sides of the ball. The Tide are now 2-5 away from home during DeBoer’s 14-game tenure — with four of those losses coming as a double-digit favorite.

“Not going to live in regret,” DeBoer said. “We got to go fix it and be better because of it and evaluate the film and move on.”

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos said this summer that Saban wasn’t around “to save Alabama,” and he didn’t see the Crimson Tide stopping the Seminoles. After racking up 230 yards rushing, Castellanos and Florida State clearly backed up his bold statement.

Coupled with managing just 87 yards on the ground, there were plenty of questions about Alabama’s seemingly downward spiral. The loss at Vanderbilt last October was shocking. But then the Tide played even worse in losses to two more unranked opponents: Oklahoma and Michigan. And then the latest one, which came at the hands of a revamped FSU squad that had dropped 11 of its previous 13.

Now the Tide look like they need a rebuild, having gone 5-5 since beating Georgia 11 months ago.

Simply put, Alabama looks like it has a small margin for error. The Tide face Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin before a bye week. And then, yes, a road trip to Georgia to open the Southeastern Conference slate on Sept. 27.

Does the season-opening loss put pressure on Alabama players?

“Feel the pressure is not necessarily the way I would put it,” Alabama center and team captain Parker Brailsford said. “I would say the urgency to go out and do the right things, but I already felt that.”

The matchup against Florida State, which was coming off a 2-10 season, appeared to favor Alabama. The Crimson Tide feature veteran, experienced linemen on both sides of the ball and were 13 1/2-point favorites.

But Florida State was the aggressor, and Alabama ended up playing from behind again. DeBoer said going into the game that jumping out to a good start was crucial. After a game-opening, 16-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, Alabama failed to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter.

The Tide were stopped three times on fourth down, each of them in the Seminoles’ territory. On a fourth drive, quarterback Ty Simpson was sacked on third down that forced Alabama’s Conor Talty to attempt a 53-yard field goal that came up short.

“That’s the thing that is frustrating,” DeBoer said.

On defense, Alabama allowed Florida State to pick up 4.7 yards a carry. The Crimson Tide also gave up big plays, from Jaylin Lucas’ 64-yard catch to Squirrel White’s 40-yard reception and Micahi Danzy’s 32-yard touchdown run.

While Florida State’s skill was impressive, Alabama’s tackling was poor, too.

“They did a nice job going sideline to sideline, a lot of things with those fly sweeps that we worked on, prepared for,” DeBoer said. “You get 1 on 1, you get in space and you got a find a way to get them on the ground.”

If there’s optimism for Alabama, it’s the same story for programs like No. 1 Texas and No. 4 Clemson that are dealing with season-opening losses. One loss, especially on the road, does little to knock a team out of contention for the College Football Playoff. But it certainly raises questions.

“We’re behind the eight-ball,” Brailsford said. “We got to go 1-0 and strive to be our best day in and day out.”

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