It may not be at the top of the national marquee for Week 1, but the anticipation for Alabama’s trip to Tallahassee to play Florida State on Saturday has been building all offseason. Beyond the matchup featuring two storied programs in college football history, FSU’s transfer quarterback Thomas Castellanos poured gasoline on the fire this summer when he told ON3’s Pete Nakos, “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”
Alabama’s defensive leaders, Deontae Lawson and Tim Keenan III, told the media at SEC Media Days that they “won’t forget what he said,” and now, just four days out from the game, it seems they delivered on that promise.
“It’s disrespectful to us as a defense,” Lawson said at his Tuesday media availability before Alabama’s matchup with the Seminoles. “But like I said, it's just something that sits in the back of the mind. If you're not doing the right things throughout the week, then all the trash talk he says—if you're going to try to use that as motivation and you're not doing it throughout the week, then it's not going to work.”
Deontae Lawson will be tested in matchup with Florida State
After being benched at Boston College last season, Castellanos was certainly overconfident in his abilities this offseason. However, he still could be a uniquely difficult matchup for Alabama and its linebackers in particular.
The quarterbacks who gave Kane Wommack’s defense the biggest issues last season were scramblers, who created with their legs and put Aalbaam’s linebacker, Lawson, and 2025 first-round NFL Draft pick Jihaad Campbell in conflict. Diego Pavia torched the Tide in Vanderbilt’s upset win, and Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold went for 131 yards on the ground in the shocking loss that kept Alabama out of the College Football Playoff.
Castellanos is cut from that same cloth, and in a Gus Malzahn offense in Tallahassee, he’ll be encouraged to utilize his mobility to its fullest extent. That means plenty of read options, RPOs, and play-action passes, nearly all designed to displace Alabama’s linebackers. So, Lawson in particular will need to be sharp in his first game back from the ACL tear he suffered against the Sooners last November.
The Tide can use Castellanos’s disrespect as fuel, but if they aren’t sharp at the second level and Lawson doesn’t look ready for game speed, then the opposing QB’s comments will look more prescient in hindsight than anybody expected.