( This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy. A quote from Que Robinson was improperly attributed to someone else.)
At the end of Saturday's 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt , Alabama football safety Malachi Moore let his emotions show.
As Vanderbilt lined up in victory formation , the fifth-year senior safety kicked the football off the line of scrimmage, leading to a Crimson Tide penalty. With just more than one minute left, he was seen yelling toward the Alabama sideline and threw his mouth-guard across the field.
After the game, DeBoer said Moore was "much better inside the locker room."
"The guy pours everything into what he does," DeBoer said. "Doesn't make it OK. We want to be first class in everything we do. There's a lot of guys that are very frustrated. The key is we turn that frustration into positive moving forward and make sure that we remember what we feel here tonight and remember that when we show up tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday, all season long. Malachi, I'm 100% confident he will do that."
Moore finished with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss in the Crimson Tide 's five-point loss to Vanderbilt .
Alabama's Que Robinson called Moore's behavior at the end of the game "unacceptable" and said the team will "definitely have to talk to him about his attitude and stuff on the field."
"But he was calm in the locker room," Robinson said. "He was able to continue to be the leader he's always been."
Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson empathized with Moore, saying his "emotions were running high."
And when Lawson spoke of Moore, the linebacker let his emotions show.
"It hurt me when I see him like that because that's my brother," Lawson said. "I just look back and I think if there's anything I could have done throughout the week or even in the game even just to make a play when we needed one, anything to help our team win. I think that's just his emotion. Tough game. Tough loss. But in the locker room, just tell him, just keep going. We have a long season in front of us. Our goals are still right in place. We just have to get better."
The frustration DeBoer said he saw from Moore came from "the work he puts in, the belief he puts in," something the Alabama coach said will continue well past the Vanderbilt loss.
"We're going to continue to believe in him," DeBoer said. "He leaves it out on the football field not just in every game, every day when we're working out and practicing. He's very vocal, and we need him to continue to be that."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Kalen DeBoer, Alabama reacted to Malachi Moore outburst in Vanderbilt loss
