Similar to when Clark Kent walks into a phone booth and then emerges as Superman, Keelon Russell had his own transformational moment in Baton Rouge.
Russell tweaked his ankle in the third quarter and limped into the injury tent. While he was in there, backup QB Austin Mack was warming up and preparing to enter the game. At the same time, LSU was scoring a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead.
But Russell emerged from the tent with a heavily taped ankle. The "S" on Superman's chest stands for hope. So does the "12" on Russell's jersey.
With things looking bleak for an anemic Alabama offense, Russell provided the spark with a 57-yard pass to Rico Scott. On the same drive and facing a 3rd-and-long in the redzone, Russell gutted out a run for a first down to keep the drive alive. One play later, he hit Josh Ford for a touchdown to put Alabama right back out in front.
Two possessions later, after Ryan Coleman-Williams set the Crimson Tide up at the LSU 25 following a 32-yard punt return, Russell delivered a dime to freshman WR Cederian Morgan to give Alabama a two-score lead.
The next drive, following a foolish decision by Lane Kiffin to go for it on 4th-and-10 from his own 25, Russell delivered the death blow on a screen pass to Kaleb Edwards, who scored from four yards out for Alabama's final points in a 31-13 win.
Keelon Russell wasn't going to let his ankle take him out of the LSU game
Russell has consistently proven his toughness this season. He's taken several big hits, which have produced various bumps and bruises. But he just keeps getting back up. He keeps battling. He knew his team needed him in Death Valley, and he wasn't going to let his teammates down.
“When I went into the tent, I know that a lot of heads went down on the team,” Russell said. “So, I felt like just going into the tent, I just had to keep myself confident, keep myself optimistic, keep myself going, and I didn’t want to see my team down. We went into this fight. They knew they needed me. I trust in everybody on this team, and those guys just kept pouring into me. And through the grace of God, it wasn’t a big injury. I was able to step back on the field and just able to give it my all.
..."When I came out of the tent, I just said, ‘I can’t let an ankle injury be the reason why we do something bad.' So I just went out there on the field, just gave it my all. I wasn’t gonna let an injury stop me from being who I am."
Russell was the guy Alabama needed him to be on Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge. He was the point guard. The leader. He avoided the catastrophic mistakes that had plagued him in previous raucous road environments.
Alabama finished with zero turnovers. That was just as important as Russell's three touchdown passes.
Now, at 7-2, Alabama just took a gigantic step toward the College Football Playoff with three regular-season games remaining.
The superhero at QB is a big reason why.
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