Hello and Roll Tide!

On Saturday September 19th, Alabama will take on the Florida State Seminoles. This is the second of a home and home series, where Alabama famously lost in Tallahassee last season 31-17. Florida State had all off-season to prepare for Alabama, and their game plan was flawless. This season, both schools have 2 games under their belts; Alabama enters 2-0 while FSU is 1-1. Fans want revenge from a season ago, but the sentiment from the players is “just another game”. Fans will certainly fill the stands behind their home team to provide Alabama with a ruckus home-field advantage. Below is a Florida State preview and week 3 storylines. Let’s go!

Week 3 Preview: Florida State Seminoles

Alabama and Florida State have played each other 6 times and Alabama leads the series 3-2-1. The last time FSU traveled to Tuscaloosa was 1974 and the Tide won 8-7. In this classic, FSU led 7-0 at the half before Alabama made a field goal, forced a safety, and hit a go-ahead field goal with 33 seconds left in the game. Last season Alabama was not as fortunate. The offense started slow and the defense was unable to stop Tommy Castellanos, leading to a 14-point loss for the Tide. FSU climbed as high at #7 in the AP poll after starting 3-0. It was all downhill from there as the Seminoles finished the season 5-7. Despite the record, FSU finished 22nd in points per game averaging 33.0 per contest. They were led by quarterback Tommy Castellanos who passed for 2,760 yards, rushed for 557, and recorded a total of 24 touchdowns. He transferred to Texas Tech in the offseason and FSU replaced him with Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels. Last season in the Iron Bowl Daniels completed 18 of 39 passes for 259 yards with 1 touchdown and an interception. He also carried the ball 23 times for 108 yards. Florida State was successful with the quarterback run last season and it should be on full display on Saturday. Daniels’ top targets are senior Duce Robinson, junior Micahi Danzy, and sophomore Jayvan Boggs. The leading back for the Seminoles is Ousmane Kromah. With 36 carries this season, he is averaging 6.4 yards per attempt. Other than Daniels, these are all returning players. Each of them knows what it takes to prepare for Alabama, and they’d love to play upset once more. On the defensive side of the ball, FSU has struggled to start the season. Florida State is allowing 22.0 points per game (76th nationally) and 452.0 yards per game (128th nationally). They are susceptible on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, they did return their top 2 sack leaders from the 2025 season: Mandrell Desir and Ashlynd Barker. Desir is quick for a defensive lineman. At 6’4 270lbs, he has the power to break a block, and speed to pursue the ball carrier. Through two games, FSU’s defense has allowed teams to convert 18 of 31 3rd down attempts (58.1%). That ranks 130th of 137 eligible teams in the FBS. If their struggles on 3rd down continue, they may be in for a long day.

Week 3 Storylines:

Start hot and start quick – Alabama struggled through the first 2 and a half quarters against Kentucky, finding themselves down 13-17 at the half. This is not a recipe for success, especially against a better offensive team. Florida State’s offense has firepower and could provide Alabama’s defense with a more difficult task than Kentucky. DeBoer and Grubb need to make sure that the offense is ready to go from the start.

Strength vs Weakness – Alabama’s defense is 2nd best in the country on 3rd down while Florida State is the 8th worst. 3rd downs will decide this game one way or another. If Alabama can stay strong on defense and exploit FSU’s 3rd down woes, this game could get out of hand.

Win the games you are supposed to – Alabama is a heavy favorite in this game. So far in Kalen DeBoer’s tenure, he tends to drop a game each season that he shouldn’t. Alabama was the #1 team in the country in 2024 when they lost to Vanderbilt as a two-touchdown favorite. The Tide lost to an unranked Oklahoma in 2024, finishing 9-3 just outside the playoff. Alabama has lost 4 games against unranked opponents under Kalen’s watch, a large reason why many people picked Kentucky a week ago. Kalen needs to consistently win the games that Alabama is supposed to win, or this stigma will continue to linger.