Kalen DeBoer addresses Alabama’s struggle to slow down QB runs

Over the summer, Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos was brazen in how he spoke about Alabama. In Week 1, he’d back that talk up, and the Crimson Tide had no answer for him, either on the ground or through the air, on the way to an upset win.

Castellanos’ ability to run the ball kept Alabama’s defense on the field and helped the Seminoles put up 31 points. After the game, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer addressed those struggles to slow down quarterback runs.

“You knew going in with the quarterback runs it was going to be a challenge,” Kalen DeBoer said. “He did a nice job. I thought the first half he was keeping some drives alive, even on passing downs that weren’t called runs. They did a nice job going sideline-to-sideline. They did a lot of things with those fly sweeps that we worked on and prepared for.”

Going into the game, much had been made about the connection between new Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos and new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. They’d spent a season together at UCF, where the dual-threat quarterback had limited playing time. Still, it was clear that he fit into Malzahn’s distinctive offensive system.

“Guys got to get 1-on-1, get in space, got to find a way to get them on the ground. Use your leverage, and you’ve got to find a way to trust your buddies around you, that they’re in pursuit. They were piecing together first downs that kept them on the field, they hit the explosive down the sideline in the first drive. They’re gonna make plays too, and I can live with that, but we’ve got to respond,” DeBoer said. 

“And just coming out in the second half, I thought we settled in, other than the one play. I really felt third quarter going into fourth quarter, I thought defensively, we kind of got our feet underneath of us, had kind of an idea of what they’re really trying, the rhythm of what they do offensively and how we call plays. And they do some funky things with the snap count and all that kind of stuff. And it kind of keeps our guys kind of wondering what’s next, and not in our own rhythm.”

Castellanos would finish the game completing nine of 14 passes for 152 yards. He carried the ball 16 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. That led the Seminoles in rushing for the day.

“I think we got through that after the first half. But then we give them the run, we give them the play, and we kind of let them out with the penalty at the end, the late hit. And we can’t live in the gray area. We’ve talked about that all season long. We can’t live in the gray area. It isn’t just about that play. It’s other things that we gotta do, but that certainly adds to it.”

Alabama will need to figure things out quickly with more dual-threat quarterbacks coming up on the schedule, particularly once SEC play gets underway. For now, though, the focus is on bouncing back next week against ULM.