Florida State is heading back into Alabama with a fresh quarterback problem on its hands.
Less than a week before the Seminoles and Crimson Tide meet again, Mike Norvell is already keyed in on the player who could tilt the rematch: Alabama sophomore Keelon Russell. The former five-star recruit is stepping into the starting role after Ty Simpson left for the NFL, and through his first two starts he’s shown enough to make Florida State’s head coach pay attention.
Russell has opened his Alabama career with wins over East Carolina and Kentucky, and Norvell sees the danger on both sides of the ball.
"Just watching two games, you see the threat. I mean, he's a guy that can throw the football; he can make a lot of different throws," Norvell said.
"If he gets on the edge, he brings his feet into the equation. I mean, he's a scary football player.
I say that in a very respectful way."
That’s the kind of profile Florida State has already had trouble handling this season. Norvell pointed back to what happened against SMU, when the Seminoles were beaten through the air and struggled to slow down a quarterback who could extend plays.
"Just watching two games, you see the threat. I mean, he's a guy that can throw the football; he can make a lot of different throws," Norvell said.
"If he gets on the edge, he brings his feet into the equation. I mean, he's a scary football player.
I say that in a very respectful way."
"You got to be able to account for him. You got to make sure that you can try to get him out of rhythm, but even when things break down, I mean, you better play with great pursuit," Norvell added. "You better make sure that if you're in coverage, things happen to break down, we're gonna do a great job of sticking on very talented receivers that are out there on the edge."
Russell’s numbers show why Alabama is leaning into him. In two games, he has completed 34 of 53 passes for 444 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He has also carried the ball 21 times for 77 yards and another score.
Norvell also pointed to Russell’s ability to create when a play goes sideways.
"You can see his playmaking ability," Norvell said. "And it's one of the things that they love about him is that, even when it doesn't always look exactly how you might draw it up, he could still make a lot of great things happen."
Florida State’s defense will be trying to clean up a rough performance from its loss to SMU, when it allowed 430 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 8 of 14 third-down conversions. After the week off, Norvell said the Seminoles need to turn that experience into something useful.
"It's gonna be a great challenge for our guys, but I can tell you, they're excited for our opportunity to get back on the field," Norvell said. "We just faced a very talented quarterback that could extend plays, that could throw the football, that did some really good things. And there were some times that we weren't as good as we needed to be throughout the course of a game."
"Learn a lesson. Go apply it against another very talented team and quarterback. That's our focus this week," Norvell added.
The rematch is set for Saturday, September 19, in Tuscaloosa. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Florida State won the first meeting between the programs, beating No. 8 Alabama 31-17 in one of the biggest surprises of the 2025 season. That result came before Alabama went on to reach the College Football Playoff and Florida State finished 4 of its final 11 games without qualifying for the postseason.
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