The list of things that were supposed to happen and didn’t Saturday – be it from side effects of the weather, another round of career days from Ashton Daniels and Duce Robinson, or Alabama’s defense suddenly putting in for a week’s vacation, or a combination of those and other factors – is a list so long and non-sequential that the second-most prominent emotion among fans after the game, following relief, was bewilderment.
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Alabama beat Florida State 50-36 and avenged last year’s stunning 31-17 loss to open the season in Tallahassee, but there was no comfort present here. Alabama was down 21-6 with about two and a half minutes to go in a first half that was interrupted twice by distant lightning, then found itself with a 26-21 lead before the second quarter ended and officials chose to skip the halftime break altogether. If part of winning at a high level is dealing with the unknown, the unplanned and the unusual, tip your hat to Kalen DeBoer today, because Alabama certainly navigated such adversity.
What it also did was wind up with a postgame breakdown that almost reads like a loss. There’s a lot to work on here, especially a secondary that came into the season picked to be among the best in the nation, if not the best overall, but came into this game leaking oil, and then the Crimson Tide dropped the oilpan altogether at the feet of Daniels, Robinson and an endless march of complementary Seminole receivers. There were curious playcalls from a defensive staff that had become not just respected, but feared for their in-game acumen. And at the end of it all, Alabama channeled its 2024 Vanderbilt loss by once again putting two players on the field for a special teams play wearing the same uniform number, triggering a penalty.
And yet, Alabama ran up 567 total yards, including 247 on the ground, and those didn’t come cheap. Alabama had already put up two solid rushing performances in the first two weeks, but some fans were trying to find any reason they could to poor-mouth the effort amidst disbelief and skepticism. That position can no longer be defended, because this was a mauling on the ground, with one running back (Daniel Hill) averaging 5.4 yards per carry and the other three Tide rushers at 7.2 ypc and above.
Along the way, Keelon Russell had his breakout performance at quarterback, throwing for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns, rushing for 56 yards and another touchdown, and not turning the ball over once. If this is what a redshirt freshman quarterback looks like in his third start for the DeBoer staff, go ahead and get nervous if you pull for some other team. Russell looked like a seasoned veteran against Florida State, throwing just 7 incomplete passes all day and generally making solid decisions at every trial.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who has taken more shots than a YMCA basketball goal over the last few months, had one of the best days of his Alabama career as a playcaller. Even the early struggles of the day could be put up as establishing the running game, an admirable pursuit almost regardless of the outcome. But defensive coordinator Kane Wommack struggled almost as much as Grubb succeeded, and the immediate future schedule is full of teams with quarterbacks similar to Ashton Daniels, and probably a bit better.
On a day when the Million Dollar Band never left the stands, invisible lightning caused fans to swelter in place, and the Crimson Tide needed a 15-point comeback against a team that couldn’t seem to miss downfield, the fact Alabama emerged with a victory at all should be welcomed with open arms. But if Alabama doesn’t improve upon the overall product, the end result of the season isn’t going to be much of an improvement over the last one. There are so many come-from-behind victories in the bag before someone cinches the bag shut.
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Here’s the Five-Point Breakdown for Alabama-Florida State:
1. While the defense struggled as a whole, solid DL pressure shouldn’t be overlooked here. Alabama appeared to make a point of stopping RB Ousmane Kromah, especially early on, by over-dedicating resources to the run and playing more man coverage in the backend. The strategy didn’t exactly take; Kromah rushed 17 times for 80 yards (4.7 avg.) and 1 touchdown and probably could have had a greater impact had FSU not gone away from him down the stretch. Alabama’s secondary struggled against some of the best receivers they’ll likely face this year – we address this more specifically in a later point – and Alabama found itself with a choice to either put more help to the secondary or continue to try to clog Kromah’s running lanes. It wasn’t going to work unless the front seven, and the defensive line in particular, could hold the point, and by and large, it did: Alabama collected 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss, and recorded 7 QB hurries. Of those, 2 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1 QB hurry came specifically from the defensive line. Alabama’s Wolf linebacker position, which has the flexibility to play off the line in some packages, added the other sack, 2.5 TFL and 4 QB hurries while playing mostly on the line in this game. While Alabama gave up 471 total yards to the Seminoles, so many of those were almost playground plays that came due to a major bust in the secondary, or in Daniels’ ability to create his own outlet. Translation: The back end of the defense had a bad day, but the defensive line should get more credit than it’s going to get.
2. Defensive backfield has to fix some fundamental issues or get less aggressive. Dijon Lee is off to a difficult start in 2026 and had a particularly bad day against Florida State, but he had company. The last two weeks have at least provided the answer to a lot of Alabama fans why the coaches continue to use Domani Jackson a lot at the position in 2025 despite Lee’s measurements. Against FSU, Lee let himself be redirected by Duce Robinson and the other Seminole receivers far too often. To be fair, Robinson is bigger than some tight ends, but Lee brings size at the expense of quickness and he’s allowing too much separation. Zabien Brown also needs to be more consistent, and Carmelo O’Neal has yet to fully deliver on whatever promise made Alabama extend him a transfer offer from FCS Mercer. There were some highlights, of course: Alabama intercepted 3 passes in this game, and Ivan Taylor’s pick off a ball batted by Keon Sabb was a thing of beauty. It’s telling that all 3 interceptions went to safeties, but Brown recorded 3 PBUs. We know the talent is there, but at least in the short term, Kane Wommack might not be able to leave his corners on islands as much as he’d like. Oh, and someone remove Duce Robinson from NCAA football immediately, please. We’ve seen enough.
3. Alabama ran the ball when it had to, succeeded at the task, and secured the victory by doing so. The sheer domination of the Florida State defensive line has to be addressed here. We talked about the problem in our game preview; Florida State has been getting almost zero meaningful production from its defensive line in general and its starters in particular. Against Alabama, Florida State’s entire defensive line got the following: one-half of a tackle for loss, no sacks, and 1 PBU. The Alabama offensive line – along with the tight end group, specifically Josh Ford and also Danny Lewis Jr. – put on a clinic of how to move linemen out of the way. The fact that Alabama’s OL and running back groups have gotten full attaboys three weeks in a row is significant. This has officially entered trend status and portends well for the rest of the SEC schedule. Best by far was how Alabama’s production accelerated as the game went along, pointing to likely better strength and conditioning priorities over the offseason. It’s also likely that even though Florida State was fired up to defend its embattled coach, Alabama was able to eventually overcome those emotions through superior execution. Once Alabama got the lead just before halftime, Florida State’s demeanor changed, especially in the trenches.
4. Conor Talty’s field goals had as much to do with the win as anything else. Three field goals, two of them from beyond 40 yards, all hit confidently. Not leaving points on the field was a huge boost to both momentum and morale, and it’s fair to say this has been an unexpected plus for Alabama in 2026. Punter Alex Asparuhov had another solid day, and kickoff specialist Lorcan Quinn continues to poke holes in the back wall of the end zone bleachers. The duplicate number issue needs to be fixed, though, because it tells of a lack of attention to fine details.
5. Russell picked the right time to get everything in proper alignment. Russell’s numbers on the day were 23-of-30 (76.7%) for 320 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Those are decent numbers against air; against live fire, they’re amazing. Tacking on another 56 yards running the ball just twists the knife even deeper. Just because of how crazy the day felt from start to finish, a lot of Alabama fans aren’t going to realize what they watched until getting a second viewing. But when they do, they will see a young quarterback grow by leaps and bounds right before their eyes. There may be a few things the DeBoer staff struggles with, but quarterback development is not one of them. When DeBoer talks about his offense being quarterback-centric, this is what he means. If Russell can continue on an upward trend, there’s no telling how far he can take Alabama.
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Follow Jess Nicholas on X at @TideFansJessN