Kalen DeBoer’s first season leading the Alabama football program had some high highs and some low lows.
The home victory over then-No. 2 Georgia and the 42-13 road thrashing of then-No. 14 LSU were impressive, Nick Saban-esque moments. The losses to unranked conference opponents Vanderbilt and Oklahoma were decidedly not.
Those slip-ups, along with a loss at Tennessee, left the Crimson Tide as the first team out of the 2024 College Football Playoff.
Year 2 for DeBoer brings more expectations at Alabama, which starts the season ranked No. 8 in the AP poll. And it begins Saturday with a trip to Tallahassee, Fla., for a game at Florida State in a matchup of college football bluebloods which are in quite different positions entering the season.
FSU is coming off a 2-10 season in 2024, its worst record in 52 years.
“We know (FSU has) got a lot they want to prove. They want to open up their season in a big way,” DeBoer said. “I think the guys have done a great job of just focusing on us, on what we can control, being in the moment.”
Alabama has made playing in marquee opening games a bit of a tradition recently, but the Crimson Tide’s past kickoff matchups have all been played at neutral sites. This marks the first time since 2000 that the Tide start the season with a nonconference road game.
Consistency will be key for Alabama this season after it lost three games to unranked opponents in 2024. Saban, by comparison, was a remarkable 123-4 over his Alabama career against unranked opponents.
With Jalen Milroe off to the NFL, Alabama will be introducing a new starting quarterback, Ty Simpson, against the Seminoles. The No. 3 QB in the 2022 recruiting class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, Simpson has waited three years for his time to take over the reins in Tuscaloosa.
Simpson has appeared in mop-up duty of 16 games for the Tide while serving as a reserve quarterback, completing 29 of 50 passes for 381 yards and no touchdowns.
The new starter will be supported by a veteran offensive line, a talented receiver room and a defense which returns eight of its top 10 leading tacklers. However, he’ll be without top running back Bam Miller, who is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season after suffering a broken collarbone during preseason camp.
For the Seminoles, head coach Mike Norvell returns, but he brought in new coordinators in former Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn on offense and former Nebraska DC Tony White, along with an assortment of new players.
Much of the expected transformation falls on the shoulders of new FSU QB Tommy Castellanos, in from Boston College. Malzahn’s offense has historically been at its best with a mobile QB, and that’s Castellanos’ biggest strength. He amassed 1,113 rushing yards and 13 rushing TDs for the Eagles in 2023.
“We had very high expectations when he joined the program of what he would bring,” Norvell said of Castellanos. “He’s definitely provided a great spark for this team. I think guys have rallied with him this offseason, and definitely are excited to play for him.”
Alabama leads the all-time series over FSU 3-1-1, and won the last matchup in the 2017 season opener in Atlanta 24-7.
