Alabama fans won’t endear much sympathy from the grander college football world after years of sustained success, but the whiplash from the Nick Saban era to the Kalen DeBoer era has to be jarring.

Head coach Kalen DeBoer meets with the media to talk about what Alabama did right and what went wrong for the Crimson Tide. Live Updates (Refresh Browser for Latest Comments) This

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer sounds glad the Crimson Tide staved off South Carolina but not particularly satisfied.

The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide narrowly escaped what would have been back-to-back losses as they squeaked by the South Carolina Gamecocks in a 27-25

The drive, which ended in a touchdown that put the Gamecocks ahead, took a lot out of the Alabama defense, going 16 plays and 85 yards to take 8:35 off the game clock. However, the group recovered, at least enough to get out of Bryant-Denny Stadium with a win.

Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer lamented UA's 'middle eight' minutes in a 27-25 escape of South Carolina, but he has more than that to fret over.

South Carolina scored three times in the last five minutes of the first half to erase a 14-0 deficit to pull within 14-12 of No. 7 Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. “We have to make our own breaks,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told the Crimson Tide Sports Network at halftime.

Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama Crimson Tide led Georgia 28-0 at one point just a few weeks ago. Since then, they’ve barely avoided a monster comeback from the Bulldogs, lost to Vanderbilt in Nashville and very nearly lost to South Carolina at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday.

Those were all things head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive Nick Sheridan discussed before ultimately putting the ball into quarterback Jalen Milroe's hands, who threw a touchdown pass to wideout Germie Bernard. "We knew we had to get the first down," DeBoer said. "There's a risk-reward on those calls.