In Kalen DeBoer's first road game, Alabama gets back to a standard

Heading into his first road game as Alabama's coach, there was plenty of questions about what the Crimson Tide would look like, particularly after a disappointing performance against South Florida on Saban Field a week ago.

Could DeBoer solve the road woes that plagued the last three Nick Saban coached teams? After a dominating decade where the Crimson Tide went 38-4 on the road from 2011-2020, Alabama came into Madison on Saturday 11-3 in its last 14 road contests. A respectable record, but far from the standard set by the best of the best of the Saban era.

Along with the three losses there were plenty of uninspiring performances, like the USF and Auburn games last year, a close win over Texas in 2022, and closer-than-expected games in 2021 against Florida and Auburn.

Anxiety had been a key word thrown around the program to explain the struggles away from Bryant-Denny, something that was almost unimaginable for a program that was built on walking into an opponent's home field and dominating the game to the point the stands were empty in the fourth quarter. That was once Alabama's M.O. as a team, and as Saban once said during his radio show, looking up to see the stands empty on the road in the fourth quarter "is the earmark of an a** whooping."

The talk this week was about getting back to that standard. Strength coach David Ballou, one of just a few staff holdovers from Saban to DeBoer, delivered the message to the team this week.

"Coach Ballou, he talked all week about clearing the stadium out because that's the standard, and that's what we came here and did," said WR Germie Bernard.

Jalen Milroe delivered a message about it being a "home invasion" as he led his team out for pregame warmups.

If there was any anxiety in the locker room, it never translated onto the field. Alabama jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the first half en route to a 42-10 victory over the Badgers in a game that was never really competitive. The little mistakes that have plagued the Crimson Tide weren't there; Alabama didn't turn the ball over, and committed only four penalties on the afternoon - two each on offense and defense.

"This week you could just feel it was all kind of just synching up," said DeBoer. "I was expecting a good performance and it's never going to be perfect, but a lot of good things to build off of."

It was a good start to the road schedule, and a positive sign that maybe Alabama has left the anxiety for these types of games in the past. The new home-and-home scheduling model will bring an extra road game to the schedule each year; Alabama has recently played four away games every year while playing seven at home and one neutral site. Now, the Crimson Tide will typically play seven at home and five true road games.

Tougher road games await the Tide. Alabama still goes to Knoxville and Baton Rouge and Norman, three places that will be every bit as loud and raucous as Camp Randall was in the first half. At some point adversity will come, the crowds will be deafening, and Alabama will have to respond with its back against the wall and the butterflies churning.

But at least for one Saturday, Alabama enjoyed a vintage road performance and driving the home crowd to the exits early with no anxiety for the away team or its fans.