Jumbo Package: Alabama defense looks to regroup vs South Carolina

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Happy Monday, everyone. Alabama fans weren’t necessarily thrilled with the team’s performance on Saturday, but they did get a win. Keelon Russell spoke about what was said during the weather delay.

After the break, UA got hot offensively. The Tide won 50-36, moving to 3-0 to begin the 2026 season.

After the game, quarterback Keelon Russell was asked about what Kalen DeBoer and the coaching staff told players during the break.

“Win,” Russell said. “We knew coming to this game, we got everything that we was getting. Just about executing the plays. Like I said (offensive coordinator Ryan) Grubb came in there confident. (Quarterbacks coach Bryan) Ellis was in there confident. We all knew, we get everything we want. Defense was giving everything we want. Just got to go out there and just execute the simple plays and just get first downs.”

Saturday’s game was the second consecutive game where the Crimson Tide has started slow. Alabama was down 17-13 against Kentucky in Week 2, before coming back to win 45-17.

Colin Gay noted that Keelon’s confidence seemed to skyrocket after finding Cederian Morgan for the Tide’s first touchdown.

After that Morgan touchdown, with the confidence from Ellis and Grubb, that’s when Russell became special.
Four plays across 26 seconds turned into 119 yards and two scores: a 46-yard swing to Ryan Coleman-Williams and a 16-yard pass to Kaleb Edwards set up by a 40-yard pass to Brooks. The doldrums of the first half were forgotten. The Russell show was on full display.

“Once you put the foot on the neck, once you hit them with a couple shots, keep throwing punches at them, they are going to wear down eventually,” Russell said. “The last two games that you’ve seen, we eventually just got these guys to be like, ‘Hey man, we can’t battle with y’all no more.'”

Did Keelon just drop a MTAQ? I think he did.

Russell is about to start getting some serious national hype, which will be something he’ll have to handle.

Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell has flashed prodigious talent in his first year as the starter, but his consistency has been suspect. He needed a real breakout moment, a four-quarter performance. Florida State came ready to play against the No. 10 Crimson Tide, but Russell was ready to deliver.

After going down 15 points in the second quarter, Russell scored three touchdowns over a 2:36 period to end the half to give Alabama an improbable lead. With the game close in the third quarter, Russell put his foot down and broke off a 57-yard touchdown run to give the Crimson Tide a two-score lead they would never surrender. 

Russell’s final stat line was impressive: 320 yards passing, 56 yards rushing and four total touchdowns. The Dallas native has arrived. 

Unfortunately, Alabama’s defense now faces new questions after giving up far too many explosive plays.

The Alabama defense that looked so good against Kentucky got a one-way ticket back the drawing board from the Seminoles. It was a poor showing against both run and pass for more than a half, and a total failure when the Crimson Tide needed stops most: early on, while the offense was sputtering. Instead, FSU roared to a 21-6 lead on three touchdown drives of a combined 216 yards in just 19 plays. Credit the unit for responding with a better second half, but there will be plenty of teaching moments when the defense reviews the tape.

In particular, it was a tough day for Dijon Lee against Duce Robinson.

— Zabien Brown had some good battles with Duce Robinson, Florida State’s 6-foot-6, 230-pound receiver. The best play was on fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter when Robinson tried to out-muscle Brown on a quick inside route, but Brown broke up the pass.

Against Brown, Robinson caught only two passes for 23 yards on four targets, per PFF.

Dijon Lee didn’t have the same success. Against Lee, Robinson caught three passes on three targets for 79 yards and one touchdown. Lee is a tall corner, but Robinson won their battles. This game will be one from which Lee can learn, and he also won’t face many receivers with that combination of size, athleticism and ability.

Lee was generally in position, but Duce taught him some lessons in body control. Dijon has all the potential in the world but is still developing.

Dumb penalty aside, Ivan Taylor enjoyed something of a breakout. He got a tip drill interception, and made this huge stop.

Metz is getting quite a bit of heat for this play and he did over pursue, but he correctly read outside zone and Alabama had been beaten on the edges earlier in the game. Devan Thompkins is lined up in a 4i here and lets the tackle reach his inside shoulder. There may have been a little holding there, but he should have been able to close that cutback lane. And Jah-Marien Latham simply isn’t fast enough to chase it down off the edge.

Latham’s speed was an issue on this touchdown run as well.

Hubbard did a nice job turning it back inside. Metz and Caleb Woodson had to flow to the counter action. Florida State completely ignored Latham, betting that Kromah would beat him. He did, and it wasn’t terribly close.

Next up is a South Carolina squad coming off a home loss to Mississippi State. Per usual, Alabama should be expecting their best shot.

Alabama and South Carolina meet on the gridiron for the third straight season after a previous five-year drought between the two programs. The Crimson Tide came away with victories in each of the previous two matchups, but both came down to the final minutes, and the Gamecocks held fourth-quarter leads in both games.

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers gets his third crack at the Crimson Tide. The Gamecock fanbase showed signs of frustration after the team’s home loss to Mississippi State last week. While the Gamecocks lost their SEC opener, it is a roster with plenty of NFL talent with guys like Sellers or defensive end Dylan Stewart.

Stewart barely played, and Kamario Taylor lit up the Gamecocks for 354 yards and four scores. Ryan Grubb should anticipate a full effort from Stewart this week, and game plan accordingly. Dylan has the ability to wreck things.

Kalen DeBoer continues to lament the slow starts.

When the UA coaching staff meets to review all that went wrong in the victory, correcting Alabama’s first-quarter sluggishness will top DeBoer’s list.

“We’ve got to start faster. This is two games in a row now where we’ve found ourselves behind,” he said. “Probably two different scenarios on how that happened, but, nonetheless, we’ve got to do a better job coming out of the gates.”

UA plays host to South Carolina next, and scoring first will be a high priority. But can it be expected? This isn’t nearly the first time Alabama has had trouble getting out of the garage under DeBoer. In his first loss as Alabama’s coach in 2024, Vanderbilt took a 13-0 lead and held on, 40-35. Michigan ran out to a 16-0 first-quarter lead to beat UA in the ReliaQuest Bowl 19-13. Last year, Alabama’s first-quarter play resulted in 7-0 deficits against Vanderbilt, Missouri and Georgia, along with 10-0 holes in both its games against Oklahoma. Remarkably enough, its blowout loss to Indiana was scoreless after a quarter.

The fans would like to see that get solved as well.

Last, Alabama got a commitment over the weekend.

Kavarris Duncan, a 2027 defensive lineman, has switched his commitment to the Crimson Tide, he told Rivals. He was originally committed to Tulane. He’s from Alpine, playing for Winterboro.

The Rivals Industry rankings list him as a three-star prospect, ranked No. 78 at his position, No. 31 in the state of Alabama and No. 706 in the entire 2027 recruiting class.

He is listed at 6-feet-1, 315 pounds. Duncan also has offers from West Virginia, South Florida, Georgia Southern, South Alabama, Troy, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, Samford and West Alabama.

Every time they get a commitment from a three-star, hand wringing ensues. In the current climate, finding some diamonds in the rough is critical. It’s tough to pay big money to starters and backups.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.

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