Things looked bleak for most of the second half for Alabama at Williams-Brice on Saturday afternoon. A pick-six by DaShawn Jones masked a poor first half overall for the Crimson Tide as they took a 14-6 lead into the locker room.
Another bad start to a half saw South Carolina cut the lead to two on their first play from scrimmage of the third quarter. LaNorris Sellers hit a bomb to Nyck Harbor. Ultimately, the Gamecocks scored 16 unanswered points in the second half to put the Crimson Tide on the ropes.
Trailing 22-14 with under 10 minutes to play, Alabama dug deep. Ty Simpson made some critical throws, and some creative play-calling by Ryan Grubb allowed the Crimson Tide to tie the game at 22. Following a forced turnover by Deontae Lawson, Germie Bernard ran a 25-yard touchdown with just over 30 seconds to play to give Alabama an improbable 29-22 victory.
It was far from pretty. Alabama did not play up to its capabilities, and South Carolina exposed some deep flaws that Kalen DeBoer will be tasked with trying to find answers for over the bye week. But in today's college football, any road win over a conference opponent is a good win.
DeBoer was relieved in the postgame, but needed only one word to describe how his team got it done down the stretch.
Resiliency.
"I think the story of the game is resiliency," DeBoer said.
Alabama found a cure for Kalen DeBoer's krytonite to beat South Carolina
Alabama's kryptonite under Kalen DeBoer had been an inability to beat unranked teams on the road. That bit them twice last season against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. It bit them in the season opener this year against Florida State.
It almost bit them again on Saturday afternoon in Columbia. But this team has learned how to overcome adversity and make winning plays down the stretch to win close games.
Alabama made the plays it had to make to beat Georgia in Athens. It made plays in the fourth quarter to put away Vanderbilt. It made plays down the stretch to beat Missouri. And in perhaps the greatest test of adversity for this team yet, they came from behind to steal a win over South Carolina.
Wins won't look like they used to during the dominant days of Nick Saban. For anyone. Every week is a fight. All you can do is find ways to win games. That's what championship teams do.
Alabama responded like a championship team on Saturday. Now, they'll lick their wounds and try to fix the issues that will keep them from being one over the bye week.