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Florida State dance party well-earned after pushing around Alabama | Ryan O'Halloran
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- Florida State dance party well-earned after pushing around Alabama | Ryan O'Halloran
TALLAHASSEE — The dance party started with two minutes remaining, when Florida State's players could feel comfortable celebrating their upset win over Alabama , feel the stench of 2024 being buried and feel the excitement of something potentially special starting to happen.
Around the 50-yard line, receivers Micahi Danzy and Squirrel White hopped around, amusing themselves more than anything. On the sideline, the entire defense waved towels and performed what can best described as a full-body dry heave.
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And as soon as the Seminoles completed their thoroughly impressive 31-17 win Saturday over the eighth-ranked Crimson Tide , the FSU student body joined them in field-storming fashion .
It was a well-earned party.
More: Quick-hitting throughts from FSU's win over Alabama - Ryan O'Halloran
Florida State was Florida State . Again. Like they were two years ago. Fast. Physical. Swarming. It did the punching. It didn't bob and weave and avoid contact. It dictated the game's terms after Bama's opening-drive touchdown.
"We worked our butts off from January to this very moment and this game didn't surprise anybody in the (locker) room," FSU linebacker Justin Cryer said. "This was not a shock to me at all. I felt confident and good going in and this was the result."
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The confident and feel-good crowd was a small one nationally and locally.
The shocked-by-what-happened crowd was a large one nationally and locally.
Florida State, a 14-point underdog, had two new coordinators and a darn-near entirely new offensive starting lineup. When the Seminoles found a groove, it wouldn't be right away.
Most of all, though, it was hard to forget about what we saw from FSU last year, which was nothing but incompetence. The Seminoles went 2-10. Enough said.
The doubters, present company included, were debunked.
Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn drew up plays that had Alabama 's defenders taking wrong steps and defensive coordinator Tony White authored a plan that produced game-long havoc.
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"This is the first step," coach Mike Norvell said. "But it was a big step."
Malzahn's offense shines
The first step was a big step because the offense impressively jelled in its first game. They answered Alabama's 7-0 lead with 24 consecutive points and when the Tide closed the lead to 24-17 with 11 minutes remaining, they closed the deal.
New quarterback Tommy Castellanos is a perfect fit for Malzahn's offense, which calls for the trigger man to be just as much of a runner as a passer. Castellanos was 9-of-14 passing for 152 yards and rushed 13 times for 72 yards not including three kneel-downs that lost 6 yards.
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This summer, Castellanos said he didn't see Alabama "stopping me." Saturday, they didn't have a consistent answer for him.
Tommy Castellanos of the Florida State Seminoles scrambles for yardage against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter of a football game at Doak Campbell Stadium on August 30, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
Castellanos's comments were embraced by his new teammates. Who doesn't want a leader showing outward confidence? Better than the alternative of being timid and full of doubt.
"At that position, you need a dog," FSU defender Earl Little said. "All the guys were 10 toes behind him."
Alabama's defense played on its heels instead of on its toes; it was timid and looked like it didn't have a tackling session in fall camp. Poor pursuit and fundamentals all around.
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Florida State had six explosive rush plays (gain of at least 12 yards), including a 32-yard end-around touchdown by Danzy (one missed tackle) and a game-capping 14-yard touchdown by running back Gavin Sawchuck, who had a few linemen, a few receivers and a few tuba players (OK, not the tuba players) pushing him over the goal-line.
The FSU running game is that kind of pliable. The flash of Danzy around the edge. The keepers of Castellanos up the middle. And the pounding of Sawchuck, Ousmane Kromah and Roydell Williams (combined 19 carries for 73 yards). Malzahn majored in deception/window dressing/eye candy and Bama was caught flat-footed.
After his final kneel-down, Castellanos made a line for Norvell and quarterback gave coach a bear hug and both needed a law enforcement escort into the tunnel because the field had turned into a mosh pit.
"Woo!" Castellanos yelled as he walked into the postgame press conference.
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Woo, indeed.
'Surreal feeling' for Little
The first step was a big step because the defense didn't allow a rushing gain of longer than 13 yards, sacked Ty Simpson three times and stopped three fourth-down plays.
Alabama needed 16 plays to drive 75 yards to take a 7-0 lead. It wasn't as if Florida State was making big mistakes, it just wasn't making anything big happen.
But over the next seven drives bridging quarters 1-3, Alabama went missed field goal, punt, punt, failed fourth down, field goal, punt and failed fourth down. The Tide's offensive line was dusted by FSU's defensive line.
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"It was definitely a surreal feeling," said Little, who had a team-high nine tackles.
Little and Cryer are two of the returning starters on defense. It was up to them to on-board the new faces. To their credit, the new guys bought in from the jump.
Cryer said the new guys "adopted the feeling that we felt," in going 2-10 even though they weren't here for the boos and criticism. As soon as they arrived on campus, they made it their problem to fix in-tandem with the returning players. That's maturity, want-to and heart.
Now the good kind of challenge for FSU: Having the maturity to handle success. It has East Texas A&M, Kent State and Virginia so it should be 4-0 heading into the Oct. 4 game vs. Miami. Play like they did Saturday and it could be 5-0.
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"It was what Florida State football looks like and feels like," Norvell said. "It was definitely a great night."
Contact O'Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida State dance party well-earned after pushing around Alabama
