The Alabama win over Florida State will not be remembered as a great Crimson Tide win. From Kalen DeBoer down through every defensive assistant coach and possibly every Alabama fan, no one thought FSU would pass for 377 yards in Tuscaloosa.
FSU quarterback Ashton Daniels posted the second-highest passer rating of his career, 169.9. His highest was against Cal Poly while Daniels was at Stanford. Not only did Daniels pass for two touchdowns, but his completions also averaged 22.2 yards. Daniels, especially when throwing to Duce Robinson, was no weak link for FSU. Hats off to the Seminole quarterback.
Alabama survived 471 yards of FSU offense and 36 points because Keelon Russell was sensational. Russell posted a 199.3 Passer Rating, passing for three touchdowns and running for another.
In fairness to the Alabama defense, turnover margin was a huge factor in the game. Kane Wommack's defense intercepted Daniels three times. The Crimson Tide offense had no turnovers.
Alabama got a building block win
Even though the win was not a great one, it was a good one. A good one, that is, if the Crimson Tide learns from it. Alabama will play better teams than FSU. Against those teams, the Crimson Tide cannot afford to get behind by two touchdowns. Against teams with a stronger defense than FSU, even Keelon Russell may not always have enough brilliance to produce comeback wins.
In his post-game, Kalen DeBoer said, "Obviously got to start faster. Two games in a row now where we found ourselves behind. Different scenarios where that happened, but nonetheless we got to do a better job coming out of the gates." Those words are not enough for Crimson Tide fans who rightly expected Alabama to put the Seminoles away without any comeback drama.
The good news is that Alabama came back in strong fashion. After being gashed on the ground in the first quarter, Kane Wommack's rush defense performed well, holding the Noles to only a 2.1-yard carry average in the second half. Alabama also had some success pressuring Daniels while rushing only four.
The Crimson Tide got to 3-0. An optimistic take is that the win was another building block. The schedule remains favorable, with two more potential building-block games before Georgia comes to Tuscaloosa.
Note: Game stats from Stat Broadcast and Ashton Daniels; stats from Sports Reference
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