Keelon Russell oozes confidence in himself and his Alabama teammates. It's that type of confidence that is infectious. It's why Alabama has been able to bounce back and come from behind two weeks in a row.
The sophomore QB played a clean second half last week against Kentucky to help Alabama overcome a 17-13 halftime deficit by scoring 32 unanswered points. Against Florida State, the Crimson Tide had a bigger hole to dig out of.
Trailing 21-6 late in the second quarter, Russell delivered three touchdown passes in three minutes to turn a 15-point deficit into a five-point halftime lead. He hit Cederian Morgan, Ryan Coleman-Williams, and Kaleb Edwards for touchdown passes. In the third quarter, he exploded for a 57-yard touchdown run to give Alabama a two-possession lead, finally gaining some separation against a pesky Florida State team en route to a 50-36 win.
After back-to-back empty possessions to open the game, Russell led nine straight scoring drives as Alabama rolled up 50 points despite two lengthy lightning delays turning the game into a marathon.
Complimented by a running game that produced 247 yards, Alabama's offense showed balance again. A balance that was never prevalent last year, elevating both the floor and the ceiling for this year's team.
After the game, Russell dropped the mic on what Alabama has been able to do in the second halves of the last two games.
"Once you put your foot on their neck, once you hit them with a couple shots and keep throwing punches at them, they’re going to wear down eventually, Russell said, via AL.com's Nick Kelly. "The last two games you’ve seen, we eventually got these guys to take a knee and be like, ‘Hey man, we can’t battle with y’all no more.’”
Keelon Russell insinuates that Alabama is making opponents quit
"Make their ass quit" was a rallying cry during the Nick Saban era. Prior to Alabama's 2008 matchup against LSU in Baton Rouge, Saban's first game back at Tiger Stadium, a fiery Saban implored his players to dominate their individual matchups and "make their ass quit." That was the M.O. of many Saban-era Bama teams.
It has not been the M.O. of teams from the Kalen DeBoer era. But maybe that's changing.
Russell is a transcendent superstar at QB. He's going to still have some growing pains moving forward. Things won't be as perfect as they were for him against Florida State every week. But he's living up to every bit of the hype that came with him being a 5-star prospect and the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class.
What helps a young QB the most? A running game he can rely on and an offensive line that he trusts to protect him.
The Alabama offensive line looks much improved from a year ago. So do the running backs. Alabama mustered 247 rushing yards against Florida State. 220 of those came in the second half. 140 of them came in the fourth quarter alone. Alabama was able to physically impose its will on Florida State down the stretch of the game and finish them off by pounding the rock. It has been a long time since a Crimson Tide team was able to do that.
Through three weeks, Alabama is averaging 209 rushing yards per game. That's 105 more than last year's 104-per-game average. It's a small sample size, but those three games include two against Power Four competition.
With the light switching on for Russell and the Alabama running game gaining more and more confidence, the ceiling for this offense is sky-high. And if yesterday's defensive struggles are ultimately a blip on the radar and not a genuine cause for concern, then Alabama may be a legitimate national title contender a year earlier than most expected.
Add us as a preferred source on Google