Revenge is rarely as simple as it is in your head. After an extra week to prepare, Florida State was prepared and motivated to give Alabama its best shot. The Seminoles were the better team for most of the first half, breaking out to a stunning 21-6 lead that had everyone wondering if lightning was going to strike twice for Mike Norvell against Kalen DeBoer.
From there, Alabama outscored Florida State 44-15 the rest of the way, including three consecutive touchdowns in less than three minutes to close the half, turning a 15-point deficit into a five-point halftime lead for the good guys.
DeBoer won't be happy about a lot of stuff he sees on tape from this game, but Alabama did what it had to do to earn a two-touchdown win and move to 3-0 on the young season. Here are the biggest takeaways:
1. Keelon Russell has arrived
Keelon Russell showed flashes during the first two weeks of the season, but he had also shown his inexperience. That was especially true against Kentucky a week ago, when Russell turned it over three times in the first half, and Alabama had to rally after trailing at halftime.
Fast forward a week later, and the sophomore signal-caller donned his Superman cape and lit up Florida State, growing up right before our eyes. He completed 23-of-30 passes for 320 yards with four total touchdowns. He spread the wealth, hitting touchdown throws to Cederian Morgan, Ryan Coleman-Williams, and Kaleb Edwards. He then displayed his otherworldly athleticism with a 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that finally gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room.
The game appeared to slow down for Russell this week. That was always going to come. The fact that it came in week three is absolutely terrifying for the remainder of the teams on Alabama's schedule.
2. Alabama's run game is a legitimate strength of this team
It might be time to stop playing the wait-and-see game with the Alabama ground game. It's obvious after three weeks, with two games against Power Four opposition, that the Crimson Tide has taken significant strides running the football this year.
Against Florida State, Alabama racked up 247 rushing yards, 220 of them coming in the second half. When it was time to ice the game and put the Seminoles to bed, DeBoer was able to lean on his run game like he's never been able to before in Tuscaloosa.
In Alabama's final touchdown drive of the night that really sealed the deal, it went 90 yards in nine plays. Eight of the plays and 80 of the yards came on the ground, with Tra'eshawn Brown providing the exclamation point with a 20-yard touchdown scamper.
Alabama's three-headed monster of Brown, EJ Crowell, and Daniel Hill continues to look prolific:
- Trae'shawn Brown: 12 carries, 86 yards, 1 TD (7.2 ypc)
- Daniel Hill: 11 carries, 59 yards, 0 TD (5.4 ypc)
- EJ Crowell: 7 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD (7.2 ypc)
3. Alabama's defense may have some issues we didn't expect
After two weeks, Kane Wommack was receiving a ton of praise from Alabama fans, and it looked like the Tide's defense was going to be among the best in the nation. It's wild how one game can change the narrative so drastically.
Alabama allowed Ashton Daniels to throw for 377 yards as Florida State's receivers consistently won one-on-one battles against the Tide's corners down the field.
Hopefully, this is a mere blip on the radar. Perhaps Wommack didn't account for the fact in his game plan that Florida State would be such a threat to stretch the field vertically. He never really has before. Norvell gave him the opportunities against Alabama, and he hit big plays to make this game dicier than it had any business being.
Fluky stuff happens in this sport. Hopefully that's what this will be in retrospect, and not the first warning sign that this defense isn't what we thought it could be.
4. Kalen DeBoer has to figure out the slow starts for Alabama
DeBoer said it after the game: Alabama has to start games faster. Slow beginnings have become an all-too-common occurrence for the Tide under DeBoer.
Think about it: when was the last time Alabama started quickly against a Power Four opponent? Maybe the Iron Bowl last year? It was a slow start last week against Kentucky, which followed the trend from last season in the postseason, when the Tide started slow against Georgia, Oklahoma, and Indiana.
The slow start this week could have been costly. Alabama was down 21-6 late in the second quarter when Russell took the game over. Against the better competition on the schedule coming soon, those slow starts could be impossible to overcome.
Or...
5. Alabama might just be a second half team
After falling behind 17-13 at halftime last week against Kentucky, Alabama outscored the Wildcats 32-0 over the final 30 minutes of the game. While the script flipped a little earlier this week, it was a 21-6 game with three minutes to play in the half. The Crimson Tide outscored the Seminoles 44-15 from there to win 50-36.
It would be nice to play consistently for 60 minutes, but it is encouraging that DeBoer and his coaching staff are able to identify the issues in-game and make the adjustments needed to get back on the right track. It also speaks ot the mental resolve of this team that they haven't gotten too down on themselves in the last two weeks and have been able to dig themselves out of some self-created holes.
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