Alabama is heading into Saturday’s rematch with Florida State carrying the kind of memory that doesn’t disappear just because a new season has started.
The Crimson Tide were supposed to roll into Tallahassee in 2025 and handle business against a Seminoles team that had spent the offseason listening to Thomas Castellanos talk. Instead, Florida State soaked Alabama in a rainstorm and walked away with a 31-17 win, a result that gave Mike Norvell a boost and sent Castellanos into the merch business the next morning.
Now the teams meet again, this time in Bryant-Denny Stadium, with Alabama heavily favored against a Florida State squad coming off a home loss to SMU. On Monday, Kalen DeBoer was asked whether the matchup feels like revenge. He didn’t lean into that framing, but he made it clear the loss still lingers with people inside the program.
“In our minds, this is the 2026 team,” DeBoer said. “I just talked to the team about that this morning.
I know there are a lot of guys, including our staff, that certainly know what it felt like last year walking off that football field. So for us, I think there are things, it forces us to have a greater intentionality on.
It brought out even better in us. It’s the most important game of the season right now because it’s the next one.
But there are certainly guys who remember how it felt. So, I want it to be about us and our improvement in this season, as far as what truly is inward on us.
DeBoer said the challenge is turning that kind of emotion into something useful rather than letting it drift into noise.
“Any extra motivation, I think the key is to channel that energy into the right things, and that’s our preparation,” DeBoer said. “When that happens, if you go through the process of the week, the right things will happen on Saturday.
I think we’ve done a good job of that these first two weeks. We’ve got to re-set, come back to work tomorrow, continue to stack days.
“It starts with Tuesday. Saturday will come and we’ll do the right things to channel the energy, whatever it is, internally or any outside noise.
Last week there was a lot going into that game, the environment. There is outside noise in every way.
You want them to lock it out, but if you channel it the right way, you can use it as a positive.’
Florida State arrives with its own mess. The school fired athletics director Michael Alford on Monday, and Norvell is back under pressure after last season ended at 5-7 and out of bowl contention for the second year in a row.
Even with that backdrop, Alabama’s history from 2025 is the part that hangs over this one. The Tide have another shot at Florida State on Saturday, and while DeBoer is insisting the focus stays on the current team, he knows enough people around the program remember exactly how that loss felt.
Alabama and Florida State kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The game will be aired on ABC.
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Kalen DeBoer pointed to execution and decision-making when addressing the penalties, a reminder that the Tide are still looking for more comfort and control from Russell in those moments when a play breaks down. Russell, for his part, said he got off to a slow start and said he is committed to improving in the games ahead, which is the right response even if the bigger question now is how fast that progress shows up. [Read more 🡒]