Happy Monday, everyone. So far, so good as far as the 2026 football season goes. Alabama took care of business on Saturday night, to move up to 7th in both the AP and Coaches’ polls. Creg Stephenson moved them up to third in his SEC Power Rankings.
After back-to-back poor starts vs. Kentucky and Florida State, the Crimson Tide kicked it into high gear early against South Carolina — building a 35-10 halftime lead before a third-quarter lull gave way to a dominating finish. Keelon Russell had his most jaw-dropping performance yet, Ryan Coleman-Williams played his best game since his freshman year and even the running game showed signs of life. The defense will have to be better, however, with a propensity to give up big plays looking like a potentially fatal flaw this weekend against a Mississippi State team that is as explosive as any in the conference.
Alabama’s defense has shown some flaws the past couple of weeks.
It bent again as South Carolina used multiple intermediate pass plays to march into Alabama territory, but stopped short on a fourth-and-2 by defensive back Red Morgan and linebacker Caleb Woodson.
A potential 14-point swing? Snuffed by Alabama, completely changing the trajectory of its dominance against the Gamecocks.
“We just got to keep battling,” Alabama linebacker Luke Metz said. “We got to get our feet set. We know the offense is going to come out with something new every week. That’s the SEC. Offensive coordinators get paid millions of dollars to do their job, so we just got to come out and whatever they come out with we just have to be prepared and just execute.”
They bowed up when it mattered, but allowing 400+ yards isn’t the recipe. This is what early season is all about though, letting other teams expose your flaws so that you can work on them.
Keelon Russell has coined a new nickname for Josh Ford.
“It’s sick,” Russell said. “The guys were showing me pictures of the grab. It’s like he was Spider Man with the webs.”
It was Ford’s 14th career catch. It was his third touchdown. And it was one he would not stop talking about, one he talked about on the sideline, one he talked about with Ryan Coleman-Williams on his way to interviews, who marveled at how “sticky” Ford’s gloves were.
But it’s what Kalen DeBoer expects from Ford and the rest of the tight end room, which had seven catches for 107 yards between Ford, Kaleb Edwards and Marshall Pritchett.
Let’s watch that grab one more time, shall we?
Unreal.
Ford also got under Dylan Stewart’s skin, mostly by whipping his ass all night. Stewart punched at Ford late in the game, which contributed to his indefinite suspension from the Gamecocks program. Josh was asked about it after the game, and was perfectly coy.
That dude has a chance to carve out a nice NFL career.
David Cobb at CBS was impressed.
Grade: A-
Result: 49-18 win vs. South Carolina
Title odds: +2200Alabama jumped out to a 35-3 lead and then pressed the gas late after falling asleep at the wheel. Keelon Russell and Ryan Coleman-Williams continued to demonstrate a strong and potent connection to help Bama overcome a spotty running game. The Crimson Tide’s defense showed some vulnerabilities again, but Bama was never in any real danger as it flashed the same capability for dominance that it showed in spurts against Florida State and Kentucky.
Next up will be the Keelon and Kamario show.
“That’s my guy,” Alabama QB Keelon Russell said Saturday. “We hit each other up almost every day, through anything. Love him to death, he’a great player. I mean, everybody in here knows of him. I can’t wait to just get after it next week with him. It’s going to be a great game.”
The sophomore Missisissippi native has thrown for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns, against just two interceptions so far this season. He has completed 69.2% of his passes through four games.
Alabama’s defense will have its work cut out stopping Taylor. He will be the best quarterback the Crimson Tide has seen so far this season.
You could credibly argue that the two best QBs in the nation will be facing off in that game, in the lovely 11am slot. I’ll just leave this here.
It was another great week for Alabama players in the NFL. Brian Robinson kicked things off on Thursday with a touchdown run against Green Bay. Yesterday, Jahmyr Gibbs and Derrick Henry led the way with five scores between them. Will Reichard also had himself a day.
Despite just nine points in the final quarter, the former NFC Central rivals created some excitement in an otherwise drab offensive affair.
Former Crimson Tide-now Vikings kicker Will Reichard was once again perfect on both extra points and field goals, including a long of 56 Sunday afternoon. Alabama alum Dallas Turner has three tackles and half a sack for Minnesota. Tampa Bay’s defense got some help from A’Shawn Robinson as the former Crimson Tide defender picked up three tackles in the defeat.
Will scored 11 points in a game that his team won by seven.
Last, grab a hanky before you watch this clip.
Damn. Just damn.
That’s about it for today. Have a great week.
Roll Tide.
