After facing a gauntlet of a schedule that featured four consecutive ranked SEC opponents, a road game against 3-4 South Carolina - losers of four of their last five games - seems like a natural spot for Alabama to take a breath and relax.
That would be a fatal mistake.
It would also be par for the course of Kalen DeBoer-coached Alabama teams. And that's what makes this week's matchup against the Gamecocks - and not the previous four games against ranked opponents - the biggest test to see whether things have actually clicked for DeBoer as the Crimson Tide head coach or not.
It has certainly felt like DeBoer has turned the corner. He looks and sounds like a different guy than he was last year. But we'll find out this weekend.
We know DeBoer is a big-game coach. After beating Tennessee on Saturday, DeBoer is now 19-3 all-time against AP-ranked teams in his coaching career. That's the best record of any coach in college football history who has coached against at least 10 ranked opponents. He's 7-1 against Top 25 opponents since arriving in Tuscaloosa, and just led Alabama to an SEC record four consecutive wins over ranked opponents without a bye week.
Alabama has one more game to get through before a sorely needed bye week and then back-to-back ranked opponents in LSU and Oklahoma coming to Bryant-Denny Stadium on the other side. This weekend in Columbia is a natural "trap game" spot for the Crimson Tide. And those trap games have been DeBoer's krytonite in Tuscaloosa.
His record against Top 25 opponents is as good as it gets. But he's 8-4 against unranked opponents as the Alabama head coach. Alabama lost games last year to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma on the road in the regular season. Those were 6-6 teams in 2024, albeit certainly talented, much like this South Carolina team is.
Alabama then lost to unranked Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl and opened the 2025 season with a road loss to unranked Florida State.
Alabama is currently a 13.5-point favorite against South Carolina this weekend, per FanDuel. That provides little comfort for Alabama fans, as the Tide was similarly heavy favorites in the four games they've lost to unranked opponents under DeBoer.
Kalen DeBoer cannot afford another unranked slip-up against South Carolina
DeBoer has done wonders with this Alabama team and has the fanbase back to fully behind him after they were ready to fire him following the loss to Florida State. All of that goodwill would be shattered with a loss to South Carolina this weekend.
It would be further evidence that DeBoer cannot get the team to focus against opponents they feel superior to.
At 3-4, South Carolina may look like a pushover, but this Gamecocks team gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle in Tuscaloosa last season. They are a talented team that is desperate for a win, and LaNorris Sellers is exactly the type of QB that has given Kane Wommack's defense fits in the past.
If Alabama finds itself looking ahead, it will be ripe for an upset this week.
DeBoer has to get the team to prepare for this game the same way they prepared the last four weeks against Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee. That focus that has gotten Alabama to this point has to make the trip to Williams-Brice.
A loss would throw away all that effort to get back into the National Championship conversation, and would once again raise doubts about DeBoer's long-term viability as Alabama's head coach.