TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Coach Ryan Grubb spoke to the media Monday morning following the Tide's 45-17 win over the Kentucky Wildcats. Alabama struggled heavily in the first half with three turnovers and a slew of penalties that consistently held Alabama behind the line of scrimmage.

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Grubb showed flashes at times, with his play calling leaning heavily into the RPO game, allowing first year starting QB Keelon Russell to have multiple options on quick reads with the option to pull and run the ball. Russell showed flashes in the run game at times but, due to repeated sacks and negative-yardage plays, did not have positive rushing yards.

The Tide did have its first 100-yard rusher since Jam Miller did it against Vanderbilt last season; junior RB Daniel Hill carried the rock 18 times for 104 yards and one touchdown. Hill could have had two total touchdowns, but a controversial call ruled that Hill had stepped out of bounds. Alabama flourished in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 32-0 in the second half with rushing touchdowns from freshman running backs EJ Crowell and Trae'Shawn Brown and Daniel Hill, and a receiving touchdown for Junior WR Rico Scott on an RPO slant from Russell in the fourth quarter.

It is worth noting that in HC Kalen DeBoer's post-game press conference, he noted that the Tide lost coach-to-player communication between Grubb and Russell in the third quarter. Here is what Grubb had to say about the RPO game and the loss of communication.

OC Ryan Grubb on Loss of Communication

"Yeah, it was, I'll be honest, it was hard on the kid, and we were right in the middle of a scoring drive. It was difficult. We have operations and protocols in place to take care of that as far as signaling stuff with the guys, and we did, but not being able to, especially in that moment, be able to talk to Keelon was a little bit, you know, out of the norm. But those things happen. And I thought, you know, the coaching staff did an awesome job responding on the sideline, helping Keelon out. So we navigated those waters, and it's good to have happened, honestly. I mean, it sucks. But being able to have the operation and talk to the guys like, hey, when this happens, remember these are things we have to do to be able to overcome that. So just another step for us growing."

Grubb also mentioned that they will continue to utilize the RPO Game.

"Yeah, he's very comfortable. I think he had three decisions that were really poor in a football game, which is uncharacteristic of him. I think those are plays that are fairly simple for him. He really just has his eyes in one spot. So he typically tees off in those moments. And there was a couple of out-of-character moments where, again, just Keelon learning from. We've got a really good football team, and he doesn't have to do it all. There was one that got tipped, I think, on the 25-yard line or so going in, and we were running power off of it, and there's a guy off the edge.

"The handoff would have been a really big hit, you know, and I don't put- I never want the quarterback; you give him a run-pass option. You have to live with, you know, part of that and understand there's a trust piece there. So I never want to say, oh, you should have handed it off. We had two or three duo hits that would have been 15-yard gains if he'd have handed it off. But the re-throw is there for him, and he took it.

"But for him, I think one of the parts with the quarterback is that they don't have that regret and like, oh crap, what if I don't do this? And he handles that really well. He's just got to make better decisions on a couple of those and understand the coverage structure a little quicker. "

The Tide will face the Florida State Seminoles in a revenge match from last season where the Tide lost 31-17. The Crimson Tide and Florida State Seminoles will kick off at 2:30 pm CST on Saturday.

@Ryanb5172