Conor Talty’s first misses of the season came at a tough time for Alabama, but the Crimson Tide kicker has already shown he can answer back.
Talty entered Saturday’s 31-20 win over Texas A&M having made 15 straight field goal attempts dating back to last season. That run ended early when he missed from 36 yards on Alabama’s second offensive possession. He later drilled a 47-yarder, then missed again from 42 yards in the third quarter.
Even with those two misses, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said Wednesday that the response matters most.
"I know he’s disappointed, and he’s been through it," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said during Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference. "You know, he’s not perfect in practice through eight weeks and fall camp, too.
So there’s a response every day in practice, and a confidence that gets built and knowing what your mindset has to be to respond. Obviously that’s on another level when you’re in the game.
Each kick is it’s own kick, so you can’t sit there and think about what you did right or wrong. You’ve just got to go trust and believe that you have the skillset and just get your mind int he right place and be confident to go kick the next one."
Talty’s season line is still solid. He’s 11-for-13 on field goals and has stayed perfect on 48 extra-point tries. After an uneven junior season in 2025, the offseason became a chance to tighten up the mental side of the job, and that was a major part of the work that helped him win the starting placekicking role.
Alabama also brought in Marshall transfer Lorcan Quinn this offseason to push for the job, but Talty earned the placekicking role while Quinn has handled kickoffs.
With Alabama on its bye week, the Crimson Tide didn’t practice Tuesday as usual, but DeBoer said Talty looked sharp Wednesday morning.
"I saw him in practice today go out there and execute all his kicks and thought he looked really good," DeBoer said.
Now comes the next challenge. No.
10 Alabama (6-2, 4-2 SEC) heads next week to No. 15 LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC), and Death Valley has been a difficult place for Crimson Tide kickers before.
For Talty, it’s the kind of setting that will show whether he can quickly put Texas A&M behind him and settle back in.
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