Florida State’s 2025 season may have ended in disappointment, but their Week 1 win over Alabama still stands as one of the most surprising-and telling-results of the year. The Seminoles, who finished 5-7 and missed a bowl game, handed the Crimson Tide a 31-17 loss in a packed Doak Campbell Stadium.
It was a performance that looked like a season-launching statement at the time. Instead, it became a curious outlier-a moment of dominance from a team that never quite found its footing again.
But that early-season upset has taken on new relevance as Alabama prepares for a College Football Playoff showdown with Oklahoma. The Tide are in, and Florida State is out. Yet the blueprint to beat Alabama might have been drawn in Tallahassee back in Week 1.
Let’s start with the obvious: Alabama is a different team in Tuscaloosa. Like most college programs, they’re more comfortable and more confident at home.
Bryant-Denny Stadium has long been a fortress, and the Tide play faster, cleaner, and more physical in front of their fans. But when they leave home, things get a little shakier-especially for quarterback Ty Simpson.
Simpson, a redshirt junior, has shown flashes of high-level talent this season, but he’s also struggled under pressure-particularly in hostile environments. Florida State’s defense rattled him early and often in that Week 1 matchup, sacking him three times and forcing seven tackles for loss.
His stat line-23-of-43 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns-tells part of the story. The rest was written in hurried throws, missed reads, and a Seminole defense that refused to let him get comfortable.
That same vulnerability showed up again when Alabama traveled to face Oklahoma in the regular season. The Sooners didn’t just beat the Tide-they disrupted them. Turnovers played a key role, and Oklahoma’s defense, led by coordinator Tony White, delivered a game plan that echoed what Florida State did in September: pressure Simpson, collapse the pocket, and let the chaos unfold.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 7-0 lead in that game, setting the tone early and forcing Alabama to play from behind. That matters because when Simpson is forced off-script, his mechanics get shaky and his decision-making suffers. He’s not a freshman anymore-he’s been in the program long enough to know what the moment requires-but the road continues to be a challenge.
And that’s what makes this playoff matchup so intriguing. Alabama has the pedigree.
They’ve been here before. But this isn’t one of those vintage, steamrolling Alabama teams.
They’re beatable-especially when they’re not in Tuscaloosa.
Florida State proved that. Oklahoma reinforced it.
Now, the Sooners get another shot at the Tide, this time on their home turf in Norman. And while the stakes are higher, the formula remains the same: get to Simpson early, keep the pressure on, and force Alabama to win ugly. If Oklahoma can do that, they’ve got a real shot at punching their ticket to the national title game.
The Tide are still dangerous-make no mistake-but they’re not invincible. And thanks to a strange September afternoon in Tallahassee, we know exactly what it looks like when they get knocked off balance.