Alabama Hit Florida State With the Run Game Like S*** Through a Tin Horn

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama Crimson Tide ground out a 50-36 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday night (afternoon?) 50-36 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide faced an early deficit, trailing 21-6 to Mike Norvell's FSU squad midway through the first half. Facing a deficit like Alabama was, it would be easy to justify abandoning the run game, especially when you look at the first-half box score, where the Crimson Tide had just 27 yards on 14 carries (an average of 1.9 yards per carry).

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While the run game wasn't as bleak as it was in the first half of last week's comeback victory in Lexington (Alabama had just five rushing yards at the half against the Wildcats), Alabama saw success in the passing game late in the second quarter, with second-year quarterback Keelon Russell leading three scoring drives. Russell drove the team 75 yards in 12 plays, 63 yards in two plays and 56 yards in two plays on back-to-back-to-back drives to flip the Tide's 21-6 deficit into a 26-21 lead heading into the third quarter (there was no halftime due to a lightning delay that occured late in the second quarter).

From the 9:33 mark in the second quarter until halftime, Russell completed 11/12 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Again, it would have been easy to justify the Crimson Tide abandoning the run in favor of Russell's passing ability, which appeared to take a big step forward against the Seminoles. Alabama held a lead, and relying on the plamking of Russell, Ryan Coleman-Williams, and Lotzeir Brooks would have been effortless to explain in a postgame press conference.

Then, the second half happened.

Alabama stuck with the run game, averaging 10 yards per carry, with 220 rushing yards in the second half. It wasn't one player that carried the load for the Crimson Tide, either, with Alabama having four rushers eclipse 50 yards on the evening: Trae'shawn Brown (86 yards), Daniel Hill (59), Keelon Russell (56), and EJ Crowell (51). Brown, Russell, and Crowell also had a rushing touchdown apiece.

"Once you put your foot on their neck, once you hit them with a couple shots and keep throwing punches at them, they’re going to wear down eventually," quarterback Keelon Russell told the media after the game. “The last two games you’ve seen, we eventually got these guys to take a knee and be like, ‘Hey man, we can’t battle with y’all no more.’”

In other words, Alabama ran through Florida State like **** through a tin horn, and Florida State could not stop it in the second half.

The Crimson Tide ended the day with 247 rushing yards, the second game this season Alabama has rushed for over 200 yards. It's the first time Alabama rushed for 200 yards against two FBS opponents in the same season since 2024, when Alabama did it four times (Western Kentucky, Missouri, LSU, Auburn). In 2025, Alabama rushed for 100 yards as a team just six times, while the Crimson Tide has done it in each of the first three games in 2026.

No. 10 Alabama improved to 3-0 on the season after Saturday night's victory over Florida State. The Crimson Tide will return to conference play next Saturday, September 26, hosting South Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.