No. 10 Alabama gets another shot at Florida State on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, and this time the Crimson Tide are trying to make sure the result looks nothing like the last one.
Back in the 2025 opener, Alabama went to Tallahassee and got rocked 31-17 by an unranked Florida State team. Now the teams meet again more than a year later, with Alabama ranked 10th and looking to clean up an old wound in front of its home crowd.
Coach Kalen DeBoer isn’t leaning into the revenge label, even if plenty of others will.
"In our minds, this is the 2026 team," DeBoer said when asked if he sees this rematch that way. "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."
Alabama enters at 2-0 after surviving its first road test of 2026 in style. The Crimson Tide trailed Kentucky 17-13 at halftime in their Southeastern Conference opener before flipping the game completely, rolling to 32 unanswered points in the second half and a 45-17 win.
Keelon Russell had a rough first half in that one, turning it over three times with two interceptions and a strip sack. He steadied himself after halftime and finished 16 of 23 for 188 yards and a touchdown.
The run game has also given Alabama a reliable edge. Daniel Hill ran for 104 yards and a touchdown against Kentucky, and the Crimson Tide are averaging 191 rushing yards per game. DeBoer praised the third-year player for the way he has handled a bigger role.
"He's earned every carry he's gotten. He's worked hard for it," DeBoer said of Hill, a third-year player who has stepped into a starting role. "I'm excited, I'm happy for his success, because he's worked and stayed the course."
Florida State comes in at 1-1, but the Seminoles are carrying a different kind of baggage of their own. The program fired athletic director Michael Alford on Monday, one week after a near-upset of then-No. 19 SMU on Labor Day.
That game ended 27-24 on a final-minute, 20-yard field goal from SMU kicker Nick Reed, and the box score told a rougher story for Florida State. The Seminoles were outgained 585-324 and stayed alive mainly by winning the turnover battle 4-1.
The bigger picture around the program has been messy, too. Florida State has lost 18 of its last 22 games against Power Four teams since the start of the 2024 season, but Mike Norvell said he still believes in what his team can become.
"(The loss to SMU) doesn't change my perspective on my belief for this football team. We just have to be better," Norvell said.
"I think our guys have taken the right approach of that since (that game) finished. Now you build confidence through work."
Bruce Warwick, Florida State's senior associate athletic director, has been named interim AD while the school searches for Alford’s replacement.
On the field, the Seminoles still have plenty to sort through, especially on defense and with transfer quarterback Ashton Daniels. Daniels has completed 58.0 percent of his passes for 327 yards, two touchdowns and one interception through two games.
One area that has worked for Florida State is the ground game. Ousmane Kromah has opened his sophomore season with the first two 100-yard games of his career, piling up 231 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
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