Florida State Stunned Alabama Last Year. Here’s What Has Changed Before the Rematch

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The Seminoles handed Alabama one of college football’s biggest early-season surprises in 2025. Now the Crimson Tide get their shot at Florida State in Tuscaloosa.

A year ago, Florida State delivered an early warning that Alabama’s 2025 season wasn’t going to follow the expected script.

The Seminoles entered their season opener coming off a disastrous 2-10 campaign and stunned then-No. 8 Alabama 31-17 in Tallahassee.

Saturday, Alabama finally gets the rematch.

Only a lot has changed.

Florida State heads to Tuscaloosa at 1-1 after an early ACC loss to SMU. Alabama is 2-0, ranked No. 10 and has outscored its first two opponents 93-27.

The quarterbacks have changed. The rosters have changed. And the location certainly has changed.

For the first time since 1974, Florida State will play Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Here’s a look at what’s different as the Seminoles and Crimson Tide prepare to meet again.

Alabama Has a New Quarterback

The most obvious change is behind center.

Ty Simpson was Alabama’s quarterback when the Crimson Tide went to Tallahassee last August. He has since moved on to the NFL after the Los Angeles Rams selected him with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

That handed Alabama’s offense to Keelon Russell.

The former five-star prospect has thrown for 444 yards through his first two games as the starter. Running back Daniel Hill has added 151 rushing yards, while Ryan Coleman-Williams leads Alabama with 173 receiving yards.

The early results have been encouraging.

Alabama opened the season by beating East Carolina 48-10 and followed with a 45-17 road victory over Kentucky.

That’s a much different way to enter the Florida State game than a year ago.

Florida State Has Changed Quarterbacks, Too

The Seminoles also have a different quarterback leading the offense.

Ashton Daniels enters Saturday with 327 passing yards through Florida State’s first two games. Ousmane Kromah has emerged as the Seminoles’ leading rusher with 231 yards.

Florida State opened with a 34-17 victory over New Mexico State before suffering a 27-24 loss to No. 19 SMU on Labor Day.

An open week followed, giving Mike Norvell and his staff nearly two weeks to prepare for Alabama.

The question is whether that preparation can produce anything resembling what Florida State did to Alabama last year.

Last Year’s Florida State Team Ran Over Alabama

The biggest surprise in Florida State’s 2025 upset wasn’t simply that the Seminoles won.

It was how they did it.

Florida State bullied Alabama on the ground, rushing for 230 yards and four touchdowns while averaging more than six yards per carry.

The Seminoles built a 24-7 lead and never allowed Alabama to seriously threaten in the fourth quarter.

For a Florida State program trying to recover from a two-win season, it was a remarkable opening statement.

For Alabama, it immediately created questions about a team expected to contend for the SEC championship and College Football Playoff.

The Crimson Tide eventually recovered well enough to reach the CFP and beat Oklahoma 34-24 in the first round before their postseason run ended.

Now Alabama gets another chance at the team that started all of those questions.

This One Is in Tuscaloosa

Perhaps the biggest difference doesn’t require any statistical analysis.

Last year’s game was played at Doak Campbell Stadium.

This one is at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Florida State hasn’t played there in more than half a century.

The programs have met only six times, with Alabama holding a 3-2-1 advantage. Before last year’s Florida State victory, Alabama won the previous meeting 24-7 in Atlanta in 2017. Florida State’s previous trip to Tuscaloosa came in 1974, when Alabama won 8-7.

That makes Saturday more than simply the second half of a home-and-home series.

It puts Florida State into one of college football’s most difficult environments with a relatively inexperienced starting quarterback against an Alabama team that hasn’t forgotten what happened in Tallahassee.

The Teams Enter Saturday in Very Different Positions

Last year’s game arrived before anyone really knew what either team would become.

This time, there is already some evidence.

Alabama is 2-0 and has scored at least 45 points in both games.

Florida State is 1-1 and has already dropped a conference game.

The Seminoles therefore arrive in Tuscaloosa with considerably less margin for error. Another loss would leave Florida State 1-2 before the end of September, with road games against Louisville and Miami and a home date with Clemson still ahead.

Alabama’s schedule is about to get much more difficult, too.

After Florida State and South Carolina, the Crimson Tide face Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M over their next four SEC games.

That makes Saturday an important checkpoint before Alabama enters the heart of its conference schedule.

Can Florida State Do It Again?

That’s ultimately what makes the rematch compelling.

Florida State doesn’t need to recreate its 2025 team to beat Alabama.

But the Seminoles probably need to recreate some of what made last year’s upset possible: controlling the football, generating production on the ground and preventing Alabama’s offense from dictating the game.

Alabama, meanwhile, has spent a year waiting for another opportunity.

The Crimson Tide couldn’t do anything about the 31-17 loss after leaving Tallahassee last August.

On Saturday afternoon, they finally can.

Florida State at No. 10 Alabama

When: Saturday, Sept. 19, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
TV: ABC

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