Kalen DeBoer knows he’s not getting a simple Week 2 tune-up when Alabama walks into Kroger Field on Saturday.
Kentucky is 1-0, Alabama is 1-0, and the Wildcats already have enough on tape to make the Crimson Tide pay if they’re sloppy. That’s especially true with CJ Baxter in the backfield, a runner DeBoer remembers well from his Washington days.
“Yeah, just watching a little bit of film here just this morning, a little bit yesterday on him, just a really solid back,” DeBoer said. “He was highly recruited, explosive, and so know he’s going to get touches, and going to be a priority with what they do offensively.”
Baxter, listed at 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, wasted no time making an impact in Kentucky’s opener against Youngstown State. He carried the ball nine times for 48 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The bigger picture, though, is the new look around him. Kentucky is now led by Will Stein, who is in his first season as head coach after serving as Oregon’s offensive coordinator. Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack came away impressed by what Stein brings.
“Will Stein is a fantastic football coach,” Wommack said. “He’s got great energy, from what it seems, to his team.
Those guys seem to be in their first game, they responded with a lot of great energy as a football team. They’re creative in the way they get the ball to their playmakers, and I think they do a really good job of a lot of formations and motions and shifts and things we would call ‘eye candy’ that they give people.
And at the same time, they can keep the main thing the main thing by getting their playmakers the ball. So they present a number of challenges for us.”
Wommack also pointed to Kentucky’s offensive line, a group that includes former Alabama reserve Olaus Alinen. He singled out Lance Heard, who came over from Tennessee, and said the Wildcats looked organized and physical up front in their opener.
“It’s hard to miss his flowing hair out there playing,” Wommack said. “The tackle, (Lance) Heard, from Tennessee, I thought he’s been fantastic in the league the last couple years, so that was a massive gift for them to be able to bring him on board.
I thought in the first game they were relatively - across the board, Week 1, there are always things to clean up - on the same page and played hard up front. They seemed to play as a unit and did a nice job of protecting their quarterback in his first start as well.
I think, to me, this is a good group we’re facing.”
DeBoer said the timing of the matchup adds another layer. A conference game this early in the season is unusual, and he expects Kentucky to show things it held back in a blowout opener.
“Week 2 SEC game, that’s an interesting thing,” DeBoer said. “Can’t say I’ve played too many conference games this early in the year.
Doesn’t matter, it’s on the schedule, we gotta be ready to go. And you rely on your base, base rules, base techniques, your base fundamentals, so that’s what we continue to teach and that’s where it starts for us with our guys.”
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Cole Cubelic Saw One Encouraging Sign In Keelon Russells Debut
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Cubelic liked the way Russell handled the offense, noting the timing on his throws and the way he used his legs when it mattered. Even with that encouraging first impression, Alabama still has a bigger-picture checklist to work through, and Cubelic pointed to the need to do a better job managing the edges as the Tide move deeper into the season. [Read more 🡒]