Happy Gump Day, everyone. Alabama basketball bounced back from the Gonzaga loss by blowing out UNLV in the wee hours of the morning. Tonight they will face Maryland, again at 11pm CT, in another game that they should win. We’ll have coverage of that later on.
Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack were asked about how Auburn has changed since DJ Durkin took over for Hugh Freeze.
“I think probably offensively maybe,” DeBoer said. “You can see maybe a little bit of a philosophical change just with the offense
and what they’re trying to do. Maybe that as much as anything. They seem to be playing free and putting up a lot of points in the last two weeks.” Auburn gave Freeze the boot following a loss to Kentucky in which it only managed three points, playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Since then, the offense has seemed much more competent, putting up 38 points in an overtime loss to Vanderbilt, and 62 in last week’s win over Mercer.
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack praised Auburn offensive coordinator Derrick Nix, who took over all playcalling after Freeze was fired.
“Really happy for Derrick, and he’s doing a great job,” Wommack said. “I mean, you can tell a noticeable difference. And some of the things they’re doing, from an execution standpoint, they’re playing within the framework of what their players can do. They’re getting the ball to their playmakers and creating some explosive plays both in the run and pass game. So it will be a great challenge for us as always, but certainly we are very much looking forward to the game.”
Kadyn Proctor minced no words when describing the challenge that he and his offensive linemates will be facing.
Alabama football will face a tough challenge on Saturday. The Crimson Tide’s offensive line will have to play a talented front at Auburn Saturday, in a game that UA’s SEC championship and College Football Playoff hopes will ride on.
Offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor made no bones about how difficult the group could be for Alabama.
“Just them as players, it’s a motherf—–,” Proctor said. “I mean, that’s all it comes down to. It’s hard. It;’s an SEC game. I mean, this is what it is, we play tough fronts all the time and just gotta get prepared for this one throughout the week.”
Tim Keenan and Deontae Lawson shared some thoughts on the rivalry.
“This will make you not want to deal with your mama,” Keenan said Tuesday. “Like, it gets that deep, It really is a house divided. Especially growing up, all the years being in Alabama. This game means a lot to a lot of people. So you’re gonna really see where you stand, come after Black Friday, Thanksgiving.”
Having players from inside the state meant that some grew up cheering for the other side of the rivalry. Deontae Lawson was a little sheepish to admit his old allegiance.
“I was kind of against Alabama back in the day,” the Crimson Tide linebacker told reporters on Tuesday. “But I had to make some business decisions once I got older and now it’s Roll Tide and we don’t like them.”
Ty Simpson seems confident that he can play the clean game needed to pull out a win.
“Everybody likes to say, what happened to the old Ty? What happened to him?” Simpson said Tuesday. “Got to go one for one. Everybody is wondering what’s going on. Nothing is going on. We’ve just got to go play our ball.”
Simpson enters the Iron Bowl on Saturday having thrown interceptions in back-to-back games for the first time all season. He threw two against FCS Eastern Illinois, his first multi-interception game of the season and his career. One was more so the result of Simpson trying to give his team a chance on a Hail Mary before halftime, so that was less his fault and more so a result of the circumstance. But nonetheless, there’s been an uptick in turnovers of late.
Wommack was named a Broyles Award finalist, and whispers are loud that he is strongly in the running to be the next head coach at Arkansas.
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack joined the Crimson Tide two seasons ago after spending two years as the head coach at the University of South Alabama. Wommack helped lead Alabama’s defense to a top-ten ranking last season and has the Tide’s defense playing at a top-ten level again this season, averaging 16.2 points per game allowed.
Kane Wommack has been linked to the open head coaching job at Arkansas, where he played for the Razorbacks from 2005-2006. Wommack’s defense will face a tough test on Saturday, taking on the Auburn Tigers in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Last, Ty has landed himself a NIL deal with Meta.
Facebook joins a long list of companies Simpson has partnered with. He has previously announced deals with Raising Cane’s, Gatorade, Hugo Boss and Oliver Cabell.
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as On3 estimates Simpson’s NIL valuation at $2.5 million, which is the seventh-highest in college football.
Despite having one more year of eligibility, he’s viewed as a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. That means he may not have much longer to cash in on these NIL deals with Alabama.
Glad he’s getting paid. Now let’s beat Auburn, aight?
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
