Alabama vs. Florida State: Week One Clash in Tallahassee

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00:00There's a huge battle taking place at noon in Tallahassee.

00:04Top-ranked Alabama opened as a 13-and-a-half-point road favorite

00:08against Mike Norvell and their new quarterback, Thomas Castellanos.

00:13Coach, Castellanos is doing a ton of talking in the offseason.

00:17Can he back it up and potentially strike the upset

00:20against Kalen DeBoer in Alabama?

00:22Well, I think for Mike Nolens, the head coach is concerning better.

00:31But that's the big question is these two quarterbacks.

00:33You know, Norvell, I'm sorry, for Mike Norvell,

00:36both these quarterbacks are going to be the keys to this football game.

00:39First, I've got Tommy Castellanos,

00:41and I don't think you ever can mention him without Gus Malzahn

00:43because they've got Gus Malzahn to put his offense in.

00:46He's going to run his offense.

00:48He needs a dual-threat guy.

00:49Tommy has a whole new rebirth, I think, in this offense.

00:53If those two can sink and they can work together

00:57and be on the same wavelength,

00:59you could see a whole different offensive attitude there

01:01with Tommy Castellanos and Gus Malzahn.

01:05But defensively, they've got to play very well, too,

01:08and they've got to play good all through

01:09because Alabama, to me, comes in loaded.

01:12They come in with loaded talent, great talent, both sides of the football,

01:15just as Alabama always has.

01:17And they've got a new quarterback, Ty Simpson, that has to show what he can do.

01:22Now, he's just the opposite.

01:23He's not a portal transfer guy, one school to another.

01:26It's his fourth year at Alabama.

01:28He's set for three.

01:29He's backed up.

01:30He's waited his term.

01:31And I think he's got the confidence of his football team.

01:34Plus, we've got the head coach who brought what, Ron Grubb,

01:36in the coordinator from Washington that he wanted to bring in.

01:39I think they're going to be very comfortable with the quarterback they have now,

01:42who is not the runner that they had last year,

01:44but is a good manager, a good leader of the football team,

01:48and a quarterback that's cerebral and runs the offense, pass and throw.

01:53And I like the way they do that.

01:55So it should be a great game.

01:56I think, to be honest with you, I think Florida State,

01:58they've had so much of a tough time in the offseason,

02:02facing all the adverts that they've come together.

02:04And they'll play really good, and they'll keep this game close.

02:07But I think the talent level is still not at Florida State

02:09to make the big turnaround in one year, seven or eight wins.

02:13If they turn it around, that's what you're going to get.

02:15Because Alabama is going to be close for about a half.

02:18But I think they pull away.

02:20Probably Ron Williams is going to get him one more big one, maybe two.

02:23And they'll pull out and go with the numbers.

02:27They'll win this game by a couple of touchdowns.

02:31Well, we'll see.

02:32And I sort of lean to Florida State because of how bad they were.

02:36We mentioned they were 2-10 overall last year.

02:39Their only FBS win came against a home win earlier in the year

02:43against Fernando Mendoza and Jaden Knott in California

02:46in that matchup in September.

02:49But when you look at this team as a whole,

02:51when you just look at the breakdown, and you mentioned Ty Simpson,

02:54Ty Simpson takes over for one of the most prolific runners

02:58at the quarterback position in Jalen Milrow

03:00that averaged well over 4.5 yards per carry.

03:03He also had 20 rushing touchdowns.

03:06Now, Simpson is mobile.

03:07He had eight rushes last year for 55 yards and a touchdown.

03:11But if he's expected to duplicate the type of productivity

03:15that we saw with Jalen Milrow, I just don't see it.

03:18I think Florida State needs to run the football,

03:21control the clock to keep that Alabama offense on the sidelines

03:26and basically take the pressure off of Thomas Costellanos.

03:29Do you see that as a potential game plan as well?

03:33Or would you want to go up throwing on that veteran secondary in Alabama?

03:38No, I think you've got it just right.

03:40I think Alabama will do that.

03:41They'll want to control the football, run the football.

03:44And again, I think they're going to keep it close for about a half,

03:47maybe a half and a quarter because of the style and because of their philosophy.

03:52But remember, to me, based on a 2-10 season,

03:55if they play an outstanding football game and they keep this thing close

03:59and they look good, they don't want to hear this,

04:01but they're going to walk back away from that field

04:03and they're going to make progress and they'll be heading in the right direction.

04:06That's where they need to start.

04:08But I don't think if they play their best, they're going to beat Alabama.

04:11I'm just saying with all the talent Alabama has,

04:14and again, Caelan DeBoer, that season they had last year

04:17didn't exactly make their fans happy,

04:19and they've had a pretty serious offseason.

04:22So I see Alabama now focusing on being as good as they can be.

04:27Their quarterback's not going to be asked to run the ball

04:30like the quarterback last year.

04:31He could not throw it as well as he could run it,

04:34and they utilize his running skills.

04:36I think you've got a quarterback they can run in and throw now.

04:38I think it'll be a balanced offense,

04:40and I think Alabama, it'll be a good game.

04:43It'll be an enjoyable game,

04:44but I think at the end they'll pull away 10, 14 points.

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