3 reasons why Alabama will defeat Florida State in Week 3 showdown
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Alabama (2-0, 1-0 SEC) hosts Florida State (1-1, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday as they look to get some revenge from a season-opening 31-17 loss to FSU a year ago. As the Tide get ready to head into the full-swing of SEC play, they will need to handle business against a power conference nonconference opponent first.
Last year when these two teams met, it was arguably Alabama's worst performance of the season. They will look to play better this time around.
Here are three reasons why Alabama will do that and beat Florida State on Saturday.
Alabama's explosive passing game
Two weeks ago, SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings put up 430 passing yards on Florida State's defense. SMU had three passing plays of at least 50 yards, two of which were long touchdown passes. Pair that with this being an Alabama offense that can be prolific in the passing game with the likes Ryan Coleman-Williams, Lotzeir Brooks, Rico Scott, Derek Meadows, and others at receiver with a very talented quarterback to get them the ball in Keelon Russell. Alabama has eight passing plays of at least 20 yards so far this season.
Alabama has the weapons to make explosive plays in the passing game, and they are going up against a defense that has been prone to allowing explosive plays in the passing game. That bodes well for Alabama to have a big day through the air on Saturday.
Kalen DeBoer's record in revenge games
Frankly put, Florida State embarrassed Alabama last season. Florida State dominated the game in terms of physicality and in the trenches, and Alabama made a ton of mistakes. This is a chance for Alabama to exact revenge and be a sort of a statement game.
Under Kalen DeBoer, Alabama is 3-1 when playing a team again after losing the previous matchup to them (the one loss being last regular season against Oklahoma (after losing to the Sooners in 2024), who Alabama then beat in the College Football Playoff). In those three wins, all three have been by double-digits.
After falling to Vanderbilt in 2024, Alabama beat the Commodores 30-14 last season. After losing to Tennessee in 2024, Alabama beat them 37-20 last season. After losing to Oklahoma twice in a row, Alabama beat the Sooners 34-24 in the CFP.
Alabama's improved run defense
Florida State's run game is arguably the strength of their team with running back Ousmane Kromah (36 carries, 231 rush yards, and two touchdowns through two games this season) and quarterback Ashton Daniels (24 carries, 101 yards, two rush TD's) both having success on the ground. However, Alabama's run defense has been strong so far this season as well. Alabama held Kentucky to just 63 rushing yards last week (including sacks). They limited Jason Patterson and CJ Baxter (UK's top two backs) to 82 yards on 22 carries (3.7 yards per carry). In Week 1, Alabama held East Carolina's two main running backs to 12 carries for 32 yards (2.7 yards per carry).
Alabama invested heavily on their defensive line in the transfer portal in the offseason, adding Devan Thompkins (USC), Kedrick Bingley-Jones (Mississippi State), Terrance Green (Oregon), and Desmond Umeozulu (South Carolina). Alabama's linebackers have also played well so far this season, with the returning Luke Metz pairing with Virginia Tech transfer Caleb Woodson. Those additions have paid dividends early in the season, and they will face their biggest test of the season so far.
Alabama will be keying in on Kromah and Daniels on the ground. Florida State will likely have some success on the ground, but if Alabama can hold Florida State to around that four yards per carry mark, then they should feel pretty good about the result.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: 3 reasons why Alabama will defeat Florida State in Week 3 showdown
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