As Alabama travels to Columbia to play South Carolina, October 25 promises to be another historic SEC clash. While the Gamecocks are struggling at 3-4, the Crimson Tide is dominating with a 6-1 record. Alabama is on a phenomenal streak of four straight wins over Top 25 teams without a single bye week. Although Alabama has a 14-3 advantage in the all-time matchup, entering Williams-Brice Stadium is never easy. When the lights shine bright in Columbia, it’s gonna be a battle of pride and legacy.

In a recent episode of the Kalen Deboer Show, he recalled his experiences of playing South Carolina at home and stated, “Yeah, I remember a year ago how tough it was to win this one.” DeBoer isn’t dismissing the Gamecocks, despite their dismal 3-4 record this season and their drop to 1-4 in SEC play. “Our guys got to grind, got to continue to just… get themselves reset mentally, physically, and have a good week of practice,” DeBoer stated, making it clear what he wants out of his squad.

Still, consistency remains the key. Early success means little if the Tide can’t sustain it. So far, though, Alabama has looked every bit the powerhouse, improving to 4–0 in SEC play and stacking four straight wins over ranked opponents, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Tennessee. On the other side, South Carolina has struggled to find its rhythm, allowing an average of 23.8 points over its last five games while managing just 17.2 points per game on offense.

Despite Alabama’s offensive strength and six-game winning run, DeBoer describes the atmosphere in Columbia as “very special.” He continued by saying that South Carolina can still cause trouble even with their losing record, adding, “A quarterback who’s back and some guys who are threats on defense that can do some things, very dynamic.” The Gamecocks will be looking to end a two-game losing streak and make a comeback after dropping four straight games, including a 26-7 loss to Oklahoma last week.

Alabama survives ground game struggles against Tennessee

This season, Alabama appears to be almost unstoppable under Kalen DeBoer. Now, their Week 1 setback feels like a distant memory. David Pollack, a CFB commentator, observed a recurring problem despite the excellent scoreboard: “The thing with Alabama and watching them offensively now is their run game is not great against better teams.” Against Tennessee, that weakness was occasionally evident as Kevin Riley and Jam Miller combined for just 13 yards on 15 carries. Still, Alabama overcame these issues and maintained the run owing to Ty Simpson’s offensive prowess in the passing game.

DeBoer showered Simpson with praise after the game. “He’s amped up. For him, I think it is balancing the emotions and staying within himself … He’s kind of understanding where that fine line is for him.” That’s pretty clear with Simpson’s 19-of-29 throwing for 253 yards and two scores against Tennessee. Even Alabama’s defense, under the Zabien Brown, caused turnovers and had the Volunteers fight for every inch. “The guys just truly believe that defensively… the more snaps we get, the more opportunities we get to go make that play, and ZB… he knew that the throw had to happen,” DeBoer added, highlighting the cornerback’s 100-yard pick-six as a pivotal moment.

Alabama’s defense performed superbly, especially when it came to goal-line situations. DeBoer said, “I think the key is that they didn’t have any timeouts.” He added, “And so understanding that they do have a chance to run more than one play… we gotta get in a front that’s going to put some pressure and make it hard for them to run it in there and not give them an easy touchdown.” Moments like these show the mental toughness DeBoer has instilled in his team. They make the opposition work for every yard. And with a streak of six wins, the Tide will now be looking to carry forward that same momentum.