Alabama doesn’t need to recreate what happened in Tallahassee a year ago to remember what went wrong. Florida State exposed some issues that followed the Tide throughout the season. Saturday isn’t about changing that result. It’s Alabama’s first real opportunity to show just how much it has changed since.
“I want it to be about us and our improvement in this season,” Tide Coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “But any extra motivation, I think the key is to channel that energy into the right things, and that’s our preparation.”
And Alabama’s latest evidence came when Kentucky made it uncomfortable. Keelon Russell had two turnovers in the Tide’s first two series, including throwing a pick six on the third play of the game. Alabama trailed 17-13 at halftime.
“I just remember walking out after halftime,” Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “This is going to be huge. It’s either going to be these guys coming out and figuring it out and understanding what it takes to win football games in this conference, or we’re going to have way more work to do than we even think.”
The offense answered with 32 second-half points. The defense answered, too, tightening up after halftime after continuing a start built on limiting explosive plays.
“I think we’re building momentum defensively in a few areas from a rushing defense standpoint,” Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “I think what we’re doing on third downs is a step in the right direction.”
That’s the progress Alabama wants this rematch to measure. Not against last year’s score, but against last year’s shortcomings.
“You think about the Florida State game last year and we got embarrassed in the first game of the season,” Wommack said. “And we saw their absolute best effort and probably the best they played al last season. And I would anticipate we will get their absolute best on Saturday as well.”
The circumstances couldn’t be much different this time around. Different quarterback, different teams and this one inside Bryant-Denny. But for Alabama, the standard it’s measuring itself against hasn’t changed. Saturday offers another chance to prove it’s closer to meeting it. The Tide and Seminoles kick off Saturday at 2:30 on ABC.