Alabama football defeated Kentucky 45-17 last Saturday, but offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb believes quarterback Keelon Russell made some uncharacteristic mistakes.
Russell finished the game with three turnovers. He threw two picks and lost a fumble against Kentucky. Also, head coach Kalen DeBoer mentioned after the game that there were times that Russell pulled the ball and threw it on RPOs when there were running lanes that the running backs could have hit if he handed the football off.
Overall, Grubb thinks there were three poor decisions in the game from Russell.
“I think he had three decisions that were really poor in the football game which is uncharacteristic of him,” Grubb said. “I think those are plays that are fairly simple for him. He really just has his eyes in one spot, so you typically tease off on those moments. There was a couple out of character moments. Again, just Keelon just wanted to throw, and we have a really good football team, but he doesn’t have to do it all.”
There were a couple of plays that Grubb said Alabama could have gained 15 yards on the ground if Russell handed the football off, but he thinks at times he made solid throws off of those plays. However, there was one RPO play where Russell pulled the ball and fired it right into a defensive lineman, and that resulted in a defensive touchdown for the Wildcats.
Grubb mentioned that when he gives a quarterback an option to run or pass on a play, he has to live with what happens because there is a trust piece that ties into it, but he believes Russell can continue to improve on RPOs.
“He’s just got to make better decisions on a couple of those and understand the coverage structure a little quicker,” Grubb said.
Alabama football will host Florida State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game is set to air on ABC.
