Doak Campbell Stadium was able to miss most of the stormy weather Saturday afternoon, but the capacity crowd witnessed a different kind of storm as the unranked Florida State Seminoles shocked the 8th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide with a convincing 31-17 victory.
As he opened his post-game remarks, Head Coach Mike Norvell had a simple but confident message, “Welcome back to Doak Campbell Stadium.”
Alabama entered the game as a two touchdown favorite. Following a Tide opening drive that took almost nine minutes and ended with a touchdown, Noles fans were hoping that this would not be the beginning of a repeat of the 2024 season, where FSU finished 2-10. But from that point on, FSU outgained Alabama 382-266 yards as the team marched down the field to tie the game on its first drive.
Quarterback Thomas Castellanos quieted any doubters as he led FSU to two more scores in the second quarter. Just before halftime, the skies opened up and heavy rain fell as the Noles took a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
Alabama pulled to within 7 points early in the 4th quarter, but the Noles defense stifled any comeback featuring a fourth-down stop midway through the quarter, and FSU scored again with just over 7-minutes left to put the game away at 31-17.
Castellanos led the Noles rushers with 78 of the team’s 230 rushing yards. The QB scored one of the team’s 4 rushing touchdowns and threw for 152 yards. Red-shirt freshman and track and field cross-over Micahi Danzy displayed his speed averaging 18.7 yards per carry and a touchdown. Jaylin Lucas led FSU receivers with two catches for 66 yards.
The Seminole defense led by cornerback Earl Little Jr. and linebacker Justin Cryer outmatched one of the best offensive lines in the SEC. While Alabama gained 254 yards through the air, the Noles held the Tide to only 87 rushing yards and stopped Alabama when it was needed most.
Thousands of fans rushed the field at the end of the game in a scene that was reminiscent of the 2023 victory over the Florida Gators. And the packed stadium of 67,722 fans for the coming out party of the renovated Doak Campbell Stadium proved to be a factor in the game.
“It was an incredible feeling seeing that come together tonight in the first game of the season on a big stage,” Coach Norvell said. “Going to get a win that we needed to get.”
The Noles will have a chance to stay unbeaten this Saturday as they host East Texas A&M at noon.