Alabama’s coaches just admitted how Crimson Tide players are approaching critical rematch with the Florida State Seminoles
The Alabama Crimson Tide will be taking on the Florida State Seminoles in a rematch that many fans have been waiting all year for, and that same thing holds true inside the Crimson Tide locker room.
The Alabama Crimson Tide have waited a long time for this one. Saturday’s home matchup against the Florida State Seminoles carries the weight of last season’s embarrassment, and based on what Kalen DeBoer and his staff said Monday in Tuscaloosa, this team is treating the rematch as one of the most important games of DeBoer’s tenure.
Alabama is preparing for a Seminoles program in disarray. Florida State struggled against lesser competition in Week 1, then turned SMU over four times in Week 2 at home and still lost the game. The Seminoles’ athletic director was just fired. Their head coach appears to be hanging on by a thread. The Crimson Tide know this is a must-win, and they’re approaching it with a revenge mentality that says what happened last year absolutely cannot happen again.
DeBoer, his coordinators set the tone for Saturday
The quotes coming out of Monday’s availability tell the story. DeBoer acknowledged that the sting of last season lingers in his locker room.
“Certainly some guys that know how it felt,” DeBoer said.
Alabama DC Kane Wommack was even more blunt.
“We got embarrassed,” Wommack said.
And offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb made clear that the coaching staff wants growth to happen during the preparation phase rather than through in-game adjustments.
“We’ve got to grow a lot more during the week and less during games,” Grubb said.
Grubb’s message carries particular weight after the Kentucky game
All three quotes stand out, but Grubb’s resonates the most given what happened in Alabama’s SEC-opening win over Kentucky. Quarterback Keelon Russell committed three turnovers in the first half against the Wildcats, and while the Crimson Tide recovered to win, that kind of start simply cannot happen again.
The rest of the schedule is too demanding. Even with this game being at home, Florida State is a program fighting for its life. Russell can’t afford to come out flat on Saturday with turnovers stacking up early. It won’t go well for Alabama. It won’t work.
The revenge mentality is a great sign
The fact that Alabama is treating this game as if last year’s result was an embarrassment, as if what happened simply wasn’t good enough, speaks volumes about where this team’s head is. DeBoer has his players and coaches locked in on making a statement.
I think we’re in store for a resounding Alabama Crimson Tide win on Saturday, and the mentality coming out of Tuscaloosa this week makes it easy to see why.
