Alabama didn’t need Keelon Russell to be the closer Saturday afternoon.
That was the shift. Russell had already done plenty, supplying the kind of timely offense Alabama needed while Florida State kept pushing back.
He made the big plays, helped extend drives, and kept the Crimson Tide in position. But when it came time to finish the job, Alabama turned somewhere else.
It turned to the ground game.
The Tide piled up 249 rushing yards against FSU, and the split tells the real story: 220 of those yards came after halftime, with 140 arriving in the fourth quarter alone. Alabama didn’t just run effectively. It wore Florida State down, kept leaning on the Seminoles, and kept doing it until the game cracked open.
That matters because this hasn’t been a reliable finishing tool for Alabama in recent seasons, especially under Kalen DeBoer. Too often, the burden has fallen on the quarterback and passing game when the game tightens and the pressure rises. On Saturday, the Tide had a different answer.
And it wasn’t a one-man answer, either.
Trae'shawn Brown led the way with 86 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Daniel Hill added 59 yards on 11 carries.
EJ Crowell chipped in 51 yards and a score on just seven attempts. No one needed to carry the load alone.
Alabama kept rotating fresh backs in, and Florida State kept absorbing the blows.
That’s what gives this performance more weight than a single explosive day on the ground. DeBoer and second-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb are shaping an offense that can win in more than one way - and, just as important, finish in more than one way.
Russell can still drive the engine. But now Alabama has a rushing attack that can ease the strain on him, control the pace, and close the door when the game turns physical.
If Saturday was the first clear sign, the Tide may have found the kind of run game that changes how a whole game feels - and eventually gives Alabama the balance it needs to handle the SEC and make a deeper run in the 2026-27 College Football Playoff.
In Other News...
Alabama's Mike Norvell Near-Miss Looks Even Bigger Now
When Nick Saban announced his retirement in January 2024, Mike Norvell surfaced as a serious name in Alabamas search, with reports indicating he had moved into advanced talks with the Crimson Tides athletic director. In the end, Norvell stayed at Florida State after landing a contract extension, closing what looked at the time like one of the biggest coaching possibilities of the offseason.
Since then, the backdrop in Tallahassee has only grown shakier, with Florida States football fortunes sliding and the programs athletic director recently being fired. For Alabama fans looking back on that search, the near-miss feels more significant now, because the decision to stay put has placed Norvell in a far more uncertain spot than the one he passed up. [Read more 🡒]
Keelon Russell May Have Changed Alabamas Ceiling Faster Than Expected
Keelon Russell gave Alabama a jolt in the comeback win over Florida State, and he did it with the kind of poise that can change how a season feels in a hurry. Down 21-6, the quarterback helped the Crimson Tide score on seven straight possessions, finishing 23 of 30 for 320 yards and three touchdowns while adding 56 rushing yards and another score in the 50-36 victory.
For Alabama, the performance was about more than one flashy afternoon. Russell still described himself as a quarterback in development afterward, which is the part that should make the rest of the sport take notice, because if this is where he is while still growing into the job, the ceiling in Tuscaloosa may have moved up faster than anyone expected. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Power Struggles Keep Reshaping The World Around Alabama
Conference disputes have become a defining backdrop for the sport Alabama lives in, with schools and leagues repeatedly testing just how much control each side really has. LSUs effort to add former NFL training camp players to its roster and the SECs response is only the latest reminder that the ground around college football keeps shifting, whether it is a coach suspension in the Big Ten, Florida States lawsuit against the ACC over media rights or Washingtons sanctions from the old Pac-10.
For Alabama, the bigger point is how often these fights reshape the competitive landscape before anyone plays a game. Texas A&Ms move into the SEC came out of frustration with the Big 12, and the pattern is familiar enough now that each new dispute feels like another sign of a sport still working through who has leverage, who gets heard and what happens when schools decide their conference no longer fits the job they want done. [Read more 🡒]