Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama left Bryant-Denny Stadium with a 50-36 win over Florida State, but the scoreboard did not tell the whole story. For much of the first half, the No. 10 Crimson Tide’s defense looked nothing like the one that had dominated its first two opponents.
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Florida State moved the ball, found open receivers, and kept Alabama on the field. The Seminoles built a 21-6 lead before Alabama finally turned the game around. The comeback was impressive. So was the final offensive output. However, former Alabama QB Greg McElroy saw something that Kalen DeBoer cannot simply brush aside.
“Eight-of-15, and that was Florida State’s third-down conversions against a defense that had allowed just one all season long,” Greg McElroy said on his September 20 podcast. “Opponents playing Alabama in the first two games were a combined 1-of-23 on third down.
“And to have a team come out and convert on, gosh, like six in a row just to start the game, maybe seven in a row to start the game. To finish eight of 15. So, it was a better second-half, third-down performance from the Tide, but not what you’ve come to expect.”
The Seminoles did not need trickery to move the ball. QB1 Ashton Daniels threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns. Duce Robinson caught six passes for 135 yards and a touchdown. Samuel Singleton Jr. added a 65-yard reception on third-and-14 that helped set up a Florida State touchdown. The Seminoles produced 13 plays of at least 15 yards. That’s the part Bama needs to focus on.
The difference from the Kentucky performance was not just execution. Alabama’s usual pressure-and-coverage formula kept getting stretched by Florida State’s formations, tempo, and route combinations. Kalen DeBoer’s defense also failed to put Florida State in the third-and-long spots Alabama wanted.
Before the game, DC Kane Wommack said Alabama planned to give quarterbacks different looks. The Tide could rush four, show pressure and drop out, send man pressure, or bring pressure with zone coverage behind it. The goal was to keep the quarterback guessing while the coverage took away his first options. Florida State found a way around that.
On FSU’s opening drive, on third-and-9 from the Alabama 20, Ashton Daniels hit Duce Robinson for 20 yards and a touchdown. Robinson had already caught a 15-yard pass on the same drive. Alabama had forced a manageable third-and-long, but the defense still gave Daniels a winning vertical option. That was the first sign that the usual formula was not holding.
The worst call came after Alabama finally created third-and-long. Florida State had just been pushed backward. Daniels was sacked on second down, leaving the Seminoles facing third-and-14 from their own 33. That should have been an Alabama down. Instead, Samuel Singleton Jr. caught a short pass and turned it into a 65-yard gain, taking the ball to the Alabama 2-yard line. Florida State capitalized just after two plays. That’s why McElroy’s concern is important.
Florida State finished with 471 total yards. Alabama gave up 567 yards in its previous two games combined, meaning the Seminoles nearly matched that figure in one afternoon. The Seminoles also scored on their opening three possessions and led 21-6 with 9:42 remaining in the second quarter. Then the game changed.
A pair of lightning delays made an already strange game even stranger. The second delay lasted 34 minutes and came with 2:36 left in the first half. Alabama responded with one of its best stretches of the season.
The Tide scored 20 unanswered points in the final 2:36 of the half. Keelon Russell hit Ryan Williams for a 46-yard touchdown, then found Kaleb Edwards for a 16-yard score just 22 seconds later. Alabama went into the break with a 26-21 lead despite being in serious trouble minutes earlier. The offense never really stopped after that.
Alabama scored on nine straight possessions after punting on its first two drives. That production prevented the defensive problems from becoming a loss. It did not make them disappear. DeBoer already knows what needs fixing.
“Third down in particular, we got to get off the field. We have been great the first two weeks,” DeBoer said after the game. That was not the only concern, though.
Florida State repeatedly created explosive plays. Alabama had problems with its eyes in coverage, missed assignments, and struggled to consistently pressure Daniels. DeBoer said Alabama had to improve its execution after giving up big plays. And that would have to happen if Bama wants to move deep into the playoffs.