TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell had statistically, his worst performance of the season in Saturday's loss to Georgia as he completed just 53 percent of his passes, but the sophomore also made plays that gave the Crimson Tide the chance to win the game.
There are going to be growing pains with a young quarterback, like taking a sack late in the game on third down that moves the team out of field goal range.
"Pressure situation and just obviously can't take a sack right there," Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said Monday. "There was a little bit of protection issue on the right side that should have been picked up a little bit better. But sacks are a quarterback stat, Keelon knew where the hot read was at. He just need to get football out of his hand and he would tell you the same thing. And for us, just, in that situation, there's just, there's no way that that can happen. You know, we gotta stop learning lessons on game day.”
Russell also turned the ball over for the first time since the Week 2 win over Kentucky. Alabama was putting together a methodical opening drive that had already taken seven minutes off the clock when Russell was sacked and fumbled. Georgia scored a field goal on the next possession to take the early lead.
"The first possession of the game, it’s not perfectly blocked, and you get a little pressure off the one side, just knowing that you can't make a bad play worse and how to manage that," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. "Those are the things that have happened earlier in the season. It isn’t like he hasn’t learned a lesson, but he’s done a good job of controlling that part of it, that kind of group of areas where you always want to be learning and getting better."
Russell's dynamic playmaking ability with both his arms and legs kept plays alive and helped the Tide execute a two-minute drill right before the half.
"There’s the area of like, ‘Hey, I can do this,’ and a confidence piece whether it's figuring out ways to move football down the field," DeBoer said. "I think about the end of the half and what he did there. We work on the clutch or two-minute every week, and he's consistently done a good job. You know, our defense does a good job as well. So the battle there in the end, you see him making strides, and that showed up on Saturday, you know driving down the field."
The Alabama quarterback will once again be facing a big test this week as the No. 6 Crimson Tide travels to face No. 14 Tennessee for his first Third Saturday in October rivalry matchup. All three coaches that spoke at the podium Monday morning acknowledged how loud it is to play in Neyland Stadium and the type of challenges that presents.
Georgia is probably the best defense Russell will face the entire regular season, and he will continue to get better the more opportunities he gets.
"There’s times where he may use his legs, and he’s balancing that," DeBoer said of Russell. "We’re still taking a number of sacks. There's protection things with that, but also those sacks fall on the quarterback too. So areas he’s gotten better, areas continue to show up where he’s excelled. Different moments and different games present themselves, and you’ve gotta come through. I like the direction he continues to go. These experiences just continue to add up and stack on themselves in a positive way.”
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