Alabama football’s offense scored six touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s win over Florida State on Saturday, and three of those scores came from freshmen.
Cederian Morgan, a freshman wide receiver, pulled in the first reception of his career on Saturday and took it in for six in the second quarter of the game. Freshman running back and Alabama native EJ Crowell got the Tide’s second-half scoring rolling with a four-yard rush. A Trae’shawn Brown rushing score would give the Tide a commanding 50-36 lead in the fourth quarter.
Alabama’s offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb loves that he has multiple freshmen he can lean on to make plays playing for him this season.
“I’m sure for the fans too, there’s one of the funnest groups I’ve ever coached,” Grubb said. “They’re a blast. I mean, they’re maddening at times, but they’re fun. They really are. They worked their tails off. I think they’re progressing quicker than probably what some people would have thought. We got a ton of work to do. We’re still not even close to done. I mentioned it last week, too, that I think it says a lot about the program and the trust that we have and the high school kids that we recruit and the development of the players here at Alabama that it’s not just a transfer portal solution place. ”
Kalen DeBoer was asked about the Tide’s freshmen offensive players on Monday.
“It’s exciting to see those guys,” DeBoer said. “You’re just living in the moment with them, trying to maximize as quick as possible each day in what we practice. They’ve shown they can go out and make the plays. I appreciate our staff and our assessment and everyone working together to try to really understand what we had in the program and who we recruited and what that development could look like. These guys are working hard too. They’re not perfect yet, but it’s fun seeing what they can become. Obviously you’ve got to take care of business right now, but they’re making plays, moving the chains, scoring touchdowns. These guys, they got an energy. They’re getting a swagger about them. Hopefully that will continue on and just continue to build, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Alabama has faith in its freshmen and other young members of its offense. Michael Carroll, Keelon Russell, Lotzeir Brooks, Derek Meadows, Mal Waldrep, Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett are all second-year Tide players, who are playing critical roles in Alabama’s offensive success.
Grubb said the Tide were betting on the success of these guys while evaluating the transfer portal.
“And for us offensively, honestly, that started for us way back after the Rose Bowl,” Grubb told reporters. “We were making decisions in the transfer portal ourself, and it was like, okay, we’re gonna, are we saying Jackson Lloyd’s gonna be the guy? And is Caleb Edwards ready to do it all the time? And, you know, some of these guys, how good’s DJ gonna be? All those things, you know, lots here, Brooks, you know, as a freshman, and just continue to rely on those guys and bet on them, you know, and how that’s, you know, really paid off for us has been a lot of torn, because there’s a lot of things that go to, you know, a team just to, the guys have to feel like you got their back too. And certainly they’ve been paying off in that regard.”
These freshmen are expected to continue to get better.
