Alabama football defeated Florida State 50-36, and head coach Kalen DeBoer said that quarterback Keelon Russell took steps in the right direction.
Russell finished with 320 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. He also ran for 56 yards and a score.
DeBoer described the progress that Russell has made over the last three games.
“I think every game, there’s something that he’s doing a better job with,” DeBoer said. “Week 1 to Week 2 is just the operation even before we snap the football as we’re lining up in the huddle. I think last week as the game went on, he got more comfortable, and thought he came out and was, in the passing game, accurate, seeing the field and making a couple of subtle checks; things like that. Confident he’s going to get more snaps. Just let the game come to him, but we got to find and pick and choose our times to be aggressive too. I think he’s balancing that better from probably the second half last week through this game.”
After a slow start to the game, Russell and the Alabama offense regrouped after the lightning delay and created multiple explosive plays to put the Crimson Tide out front.
The Crimson Tide scored 23 points in the second quarter, and they added on 24 more in the second half.
Earlier in the game, Russell was perhaps a little hesitant when passing the ball, but after the lightning delay, Russell looked like the quarterback that this staff believes he can be.
Like DeBoer said, Russell looked more confident and comfortable as the game progressed, and he carried that all the way through the rest of the game.
Alabama will host South Carolina next week. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.
