Alabama did not exactly make Saturday easy on itself, but the Crimson Tide still walked out of Bryant-Denny Stadium with a result that says plenty about where this team is right now.
No. 10 Alabama beat Florida State 50-36 on Saturday, overcoming a rough first half and an early 21-6 hole to move to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC. The Seminoles, now 1-2 and 0-1 in the ACC, were trying to make it two straight over Alabama, but the Crimson Tide finished strong enough to stop that from happening.
What stood out most was the response. Alabama looked flat early, with the offense opening with back-to-back three-and-outs while the defense had trouble slowing Florida State’s big-play attack. Then came the in-game lightning delay, and after that break Alabama flipped the script.
Keelon Russell was the engine of the turnaround. In the final 2:36 of the first half, he threw three touchdown passes - one to freshman Cederian Morgan for 21 yards, one to Ryan Coleman-Williams for 46 yards and one to Kalen Edwards for 16 yards. That burst sent Alabama into halftime with a 26-21 lead.
Florida State answered right away to start the second half, but Alabama kept landing blows. The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns on the next two drives, including a 57-yard rushing score from Russell, and at that point Alabama had reached five straight touchdown drives. By the end of the day, Alabama had touchdowns on six of its final seven drives before taking a knee to finish it off.
Trae’shawn Brown added a 20-yard rushing touchdown with 2:15 left to help seal it, and Bray Hubbard finished the game with an interception after a shaky day for the defense.
The numbers on the scoreboard were impressive enough, but the bigger picture is even clearer: Alabama has now scored 45 or more points in each of its first three games, something the program has done only one other time, in 2018 during the first six games.
This game also showed something else about the Crimson Tide - they can get knocked around and still find a way back.
That has now happened in consecutive weeks against Power Four opponents. Alabama trailed Kentucky and trailed Florida State, too, but each time it climbed out. Against the Seminoles, the Tide’s defense struggled to control the game for long stretches, but the offense kept bailing it out.
Still, the slow starts remain a problem.
Alabama did avoid turnovers on its first two offensive possessions, which was an improvement, but those drives still ended in three-and-outs. Over the first three Alabama possessions, the offense managed only one drive longer than three plays, and that one came after Red Morgan’s interception. Florida State, meanwhile, scored two touchdowns and threw an interception on its first three drives.
That left Alabama chasing the game until late in the first half, and the Crimson Tide cannot assume it will keep escaping those kinds of starts against stronger opponents.
For now, though, Alabama has shown it can absorb a punch and throw one right back. That was the story Saturday.
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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
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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 🡒]