Despite securing a 20-9 victory over the LSU Tigers in Tuscaloosa during Week 11, the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide is facing questions about its identity under coach Kalen DeBoer. With an 8-1 record, the Crimson Tide is in a strong position to reach the Southeastern Conference championship game, but one analyst believes the offense is still a long way from reaching its full potential.
Why Does Alabama’s Offense Still Seem Uncomfortable?
In the latest AP Top 25 Poll, the Crimson Tide held onto the No. 4 spot, trailing the undefeated No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies, the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers, and the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes. That order mirrors the current College Football Playoff rankings. However, according to PFSN’s offensive impact rankings, Alabama’s offense ranks just No. 32 overall. During a Tuesday segment of the “Next Round” podcast, analyst Brooks Austin explained why DeBoer’s offense has not yet become one of the nation’s best.
“This ain’t who they wanna be,” Austin said. “This is not the offensive style of football that they wanna play in the run game. We saw this in their passing department last year when they when they got stuck with Jalen Milroe, where we’ve gotta throw for 2,900 yards instead of the 4,200 yards that we’re accustomed to in the DeBoer and Grubb (Ryan) offenses. They have personnel that don’t match what they normally want to do.”
Austin elaborated on the team’s current identity crisis, suggesting a timeline for improvement. “They kind of got this mixed morph identity between hybrid athletes and big movers. I think they’re moving more towards the athletes though. I think we’re 18 months away from this DeBoer offense looking like it’s supposed to look. In the meantime, they’re just throwing stuff on the wall hoping it sticks cause they’re not really comfortable.”
Kalen DeBoer is still uncomfortable at Alabama.
We are still some time from the best versions of this offense. pic.twitter.com/EsVw4H17I2
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) November 11, 2025
The Crimson Tide’s rushing attack has been a point of criticism this season. The struggles continued against the Tigers, as the team managed only 56 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Before the game against LSU, Alabama was ranked No. 104 among 136 FBSÂ teams in the country and No. 13 in the SEC, averaging just 119.3 rushing yards per game.
The team is hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2024. In that season, DeBoer’s squad traveled to Norman with a chance to clinch a berth in the College Football Playoffs but suffered a humiliating 24-3 loss to the unranked Oklahoma Sooners. It marked the first time the Crimson Tide offense had not scored a touchdown in a game since Nov. 5, 2011, and it ended any chance for DeBoer to redeem an inconsistent first season after replacing Nick Saban.
During his weekly news conference before the Crimson Tide hosts coach Brent Venables’ No. 11 Sooners in Tuscaloosa, DeBoer sent a stark warning to his team by reminding them of the previous year’s debacle in Norman.
“The ones that did certainly better remember and understand, more importantly, you’re facing a really good program that, obviously, we went to their place and got beat up pretty good last year,” Kalen DeBoer said. “That’s who’s coming to town this week.”
Following the rematch with Oklahoma, Alabama has one final game against a ranked opponent in the regular season. The team will then face the Eastern Illinois Panthers before the Iron Bowl against the Auburn Tigers, who dismissed their coach, Hugh Freeze, a few weeks ago.
