Keelon Russell just crashed the Heisman race, giving Alabama fans a dangerous idea
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STARKVILLE, MS – Racin Delgatty started by stating the obvious.
“Keelon is Keelon,” the Alabama center informed us.
That’s the type of quote that demands a follow-up question.
OK, so we’ve established Keelon is Keelon, but who, exactly, is Keelon Russell?
It is here in the interview when Delgatty stretched out his arm, palm out, and struck a pose.
The pose.
You know the one.
Heisman.
Keelon is Keelon, and Keelon is a Heisman-caliber quarterback, as told by the 315-pound man who snaps him the ball every play.
“That boy is insane,” Delgatty told a group of reporters after No. 7 Alabama torched No. 16 Mississippi State, 56-23, in a performance that sent Russell’s Heisman odds shooting to the top of the charts. “He’s getting better and better every week. I’m excited for him.”
Keelon Russell for Heisman?
It’s much too early to declare Russell as anything more than Heisman contender, but nobody can dispute Alabama’s 19-year-old sophomore was insanely good on this day.
So good you could understand if Alabama fans harbor visions of an SEC championship, a return to the playoff, and maybe, just maybe, the possibility the Crimson Tide are back and Alabama was onto something when it hired Kalen DeBoer.
Certainly, DeBoer was onto something when he reeled in Russell as his first signature recruiting win after he replaced Nick Saban. After DeBoer flipped Russell from SMU to Alabama, a popular radio host in Louisiana, rival territory, trolled Alabama for raiding SMU's cupboard. Joke's on LSU and everyone else in the SEC, because Russell is darn good. Too good for SMU, frankly.
Just like the Heisman chatter, it’s premature to definitively use the ‘B’ word with Alabama, but if Russell and the Tide roll up Georgia next weekend, that’s the word you’ll hear on repeat. Back.
And, you’ll hear more Heisman chatter, too.
For now, Russell would rather put aside the awards talk.
“I’m just playing my game,” he said after a game in which he supplied four touchdowns. “I’m not really worried about the Heisman right now. The accolades and stuff will come.”
They will if he keeps playing like this.
Russell throws a gorgeous deep ball. He knifes through defenses with his legs. And, against Mississippi State, he showed a surgeon’s precision on third downs.
“I’m just trusting the playmakers out there, trusting the O-linemen to block,” Russell said during a matter-of-fact interview in which he made his standout performance sound like a normal day at the office.
Keelon Russell's next test: Georgia
The game started with Mississippi State fans furiously clanging cowbells. It ended with Alabama’s band striking up a familiar tune that goes like this:
Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye.
Goodbye to Mississippi State’s underdog uprising.
Hello to Russell for Heisman.
“He continues to show up when we need him,” said Rico Scott, who caught one of Russell’s three touchdown passes.
To reduce Alabama's dominance to the performance of one player would be to oversimplify this rout.
Alabama established a run game. Its receivers and tight ends were tremendous. Its defense tortured Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor, who went from ballyhooed to beleaguered in the span of one game.
Aside from Alabama’s two turnovers, you’re not left with many nits to pick.
“Extremely proud of our guys,” DeBoer said.
Throughout the spring and the preseason, DeBoer framed Alabama’s quarterback competition as being a tight battle between Russell and veteran backup Austin Mack, and yet the entire time, it seemed obvious to anyone who’d seen even the slightest bit of Russell that his supreme playmaking ability meant he offered the greater upside.
DeBoer never doubted Russell’s skills. He’s impressed by the rapid growth he’s showing with his ball security. In Russell’s first SEC start, a road test at Kentucky, he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. He’s not had a single turnover in the three games since then.
That’s how a quarterback goes from being a playmaker to being a total package.
"I just think he's learned from everything that’s happened,” DeBoer said.
And he did it swiftly.
Of course, it’s one thing to torch upstart Mississippi State.
It’d be another to do it to Georgia.
If Russell looks this good against Georgia, Alabama’s center might flash that familiar pose again and remind us that, hey, “Keelon is Keelon.”
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Keelon Russell just crashed the Heisman race, giving Alabama fans a dangerous idea
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