One critical error Kalen DeBoer made in shocking loss to Vanderbilt

One week after being on top of the college football world, Kalen DeBoer and top-ranked Alabama came crashing back down to Earth in shocking fashion on Saturday, falling at Vanderbilt in a 40-35 upset that sent shockwaves through the SEC. Alabama was careless with the ball early, Commodores QB Diego Pavia was nails time and time again and the Crimson Tide defense simply couldn't get a stop when it needed one despite a big second half from Jalen Milroe and the offense.

Any time a program like Alabama loses to a program like Vanderbilt, there's going to be finger-pointing to spare. And while defensive coordinator Kane Wommack is about to be raked over the coals this week, DeBoer also made some mistakes that showed we may have been a bit premature in crowning him after the Georgia win last weekend.

Kalen DeBoer did his defense no favors in Alabama's loss to Vanderbilt

To be clear: First and foremost, this loss is on the Tide's defense. You simply cannot allow 418 yards, 5.6 yards per play and 40 points to Vanderbilt, period, full stop. But once it became clear that defensive coordinator Kane Wommack didn't have an answer for Pavia and Co., DeBoer should've realized the sort of game he was in and adjusted his own offense accordingly. Complimentary football has become a cliche for a reason, and Deboer stubbornly refused it to the detriment of his team.

As evidence, look no further than the time of possession: 42:08 for the Commodores, just 17:52 for Alabama. The Tide had no problem moving the ball when they weren't shooting themselves in the foot; Jalen Milroe averaged over 12 yards per attempt, and the offense as a whole averaged 8.6 yards per play. But it's the way in which DeBoer's offense found success that was the problem: Rather than trying to take the air out of the ball, keep Pavia on the sideline, prevent mistakes and just chug down the field, DeBoer just kept on doing what he always does — he's an all gas, no brakes type of offensive coach, and he doesn't know any other way to be.

That's all well and good when you're ripping off big plays against Georgia and everything's rolling. When adversity strikes, though, you need someone to calm things down. Alabama never felt like it was in control of this game, despite the talent advantage, while the defense bears the brunt of that blame, DeBoer also only ran the ball 20 times for 84 yards. Mistakes got the Tide behind the eight ball, and that's a tough place to be, but Alabama panicked far earlier than it needed to, a mindset that stems directly from the head coach and the offense he's responsible for.