Florida State heads to Tuscaloosa on Saturday with a fresh bye week in its pocket and the memory of last year’s upset still hanging over this matchup. The Seminoles are 1-1 and now get Alabama, the No. 10 team in the country, in a game the Crimson Tide have had marked down for a year.
To get a better read on Alabama, we checked in with Brent Taylor of Roll ‘Bama Roll, and the first thing he made clear was that the pressure around Kalen DeBoer has never really gone away. DeBoer is in year three after landing a major extension, but Alabama’s fan base has already been on edge since the moment Nick Saban retired. Taylor pointed to last season’s strange ride - four losses, but also 11 wins, an SEC Championship appearance, a playoff win, and then a rough ending against Indiana - as proof that the record only tells part of the story.
“The Tide just played a LOT of games, with two of the losses being a 1-1 split on the season (UGA, Oklahoma), and ended it with an utter buzzsaw of top-ten squads.”
Even with that context, Taylor said the standard in Tuscaloosa never changes much. Losing to top-10 teams still leaves a bad taste, and another season with four regular-season losses would likely put DeBoer on a short leash.
But if the losses come later in the year, especially in the postseason, Taylor believes the administration would still be satisfied. In his view, the coach is safer than the outside noise suggests.
At quarterback, Alabama is leaning on Keelon Russell, who is 2-0 in his young career and already showing the kind of talent that can make a defense miserable. Taylor called the upside “tremendous,” praising Russell’s release, his ability to hit outrageous throws, and the fact that he can hurt teams as a runner and while throwing on the move.
The growing pains are there too, though. Taylor said Russell has tried to do too much at times, taken avoidable sacks, skipped easy completions, and dealt with some unusual accuracy issues.
That kind of uneven play has been part of the picture up front as well, even if the Alabama offensive line is trending in the right direction. Daniel Hill’s 104-yard performance on the ground showed what the group can do, but the unit also gave up four sacks.
Taylor said he wouldn’t label the line a strength yet, but he did call it more promising than any Alabama front since 2020. He added that the sacks have mostly been tied to Russell holding the ball too long against free blitzers, and that right guard Michael Carroll missing time with concussions is worth watching.
New left tackle Jackson Lloyd, meanwhile, sounds like a real bright spot.
The receiver room also has a clearer hierarchy than some might expect. Taylor pushed back on the idea that Ryan Coleman-Williams is Alabama’s true No. 1 target, calling sophomore Lotzeir Brooks the player who fits that role best right now.
Brooks has already made clutch plays this season despite being limited by a fall camp injury, and Taylor believes the setup works well: Coleman-Williams as the explosive game-breaker, Brooks as the steady top option, and the rest of the offense filling in with tight ends, running backs, and the WR3. Alabama, he said, looks ready to lean heavily on two-tight-end sets.
Defensively, the Tide have been just as intriguing. Taylor ranked the safeties as the top group and the corners second, though he noted the depth behind the top two corners is a concern.
The bigger surprise has come in the front seven, where Alabama completely rebuilt the linebackers and defensive line and then watched that group overwhelm both ECU and Kentucky. Still, Taylor stopped short of declaring that unit finished product.
The defensive line and edge rush remain the part he trusts the least until they prove they can keep it up beyond one strong game.
As for Saturday, Taylor isn’t expecting another shock. He admitted the 2025 upset caught him off guard, though he said the presence of Gus Malzahn made him uneasy heading into that one.
With Malzahn gone, he sees fewer reasons for alarm. The one path to trouble, in his view, is Russell having another rough stretch and putting Alabama behind the chains.
He also likes enough of Ashton Daniels’ scrambling ability to think Florida State can find some scoring chances.
Still, Taylor’s prediction leans firmly toward Alabama: 35-16.
Saturday, September 19
3:30 p.m.
Eastern
ABC
ESPN App, FuboTV
Seminoles Radio Network
FSU Broadcast: CH. 161/193/ SXM App
Spread: Alabama -19.5
Over/Under: 48.5 points
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