Kalen DeBoer will be looking for the third time to be the charm in his biggest game yet at Alabama a week from now against Oklahoma in Norman. The Tide were successful in revenge games against both Tennessee and Vanderbilt this season, and obviously did everything but close out the Sooners in Tuscaloosa. Now DeBoer gets a rare opportunity to get a second chance against the one SEC team that bested the Tide during the regular season. Recently, Alabama has had an OU problem, having lost the last five of six games since 2002. Being able to get revenge in the biggest game of his tenure would be huge for DeBoer.
His name has gotten a lot of traction in the rumor mill, first in Happy Valley and now in Ann Arbor, but his focus seems to be on righting the ship after the debacle in the SEC Championship Game. As much goodwill as DeBoer has gained from the fanbase, a lot of that seems to have been lost with how the team has played since the LSU game. There are quite a few rumors on the field as well, with the biggest one being that Ty Simpson has been playing hurt for a while. Of course, all players are somewhat banged up once we get to November, but nothing significant has been confirmed about Simpson's health.
It would make sense if Ty is hurt, considering he has been a shell of himself in recent weeks. He has been very uncomfortable stepping into his throws as of late, and the last month has been quite a struggle. He has gone from a man who seemed to be on his way to possibly being a first-round draft pick to a player who may need to come back for another season. Many in the fan base and media are wondering why a decision has not been made to see what Austin Mack can do, since the offense has been bad and lacking as of late. It will be interesting to see what DeBoer does when the season is on the line if Simpson has some of the same struggles that we saw against Georgia. We all know what Saban did with his season on the line in the national championship, and it will be interesting to see if DeBoer will have to make that same decision with the season on the line.
Being in the playoff despite three losses has given DeBoer a little breathing room, unlike a year ago. That room will become nonexistent if he is unable to get past OU for a second time this season. Outside of the SEC Championship Game, Alabama has responded well with its back against the wall, and now the biggest opportunity presents itself a week from now in Norman. It seems like a win over the Sooners would surpass what many expected after the loss in Tallahassee, and anything after that would be icing on the cake. However, if it looks anything like what it did last week against Georgia or last year against Oklahoma, then there will be a huge number of fans who would happily pack DeBoer's bag and ship him to Michigan, even if nothing more than media and message board speculation as of now.