It was Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer's birthday, but Keelon Russell was the one who grew up.
Very little went right for either Russell or the Crimson Tide in the first half of a 31-20 home win over Texas A&M on Saturday, Oct. 24. There were a myriad of issues that made the sophomore quarterback's day harder, including a terrible miscue of his own. It all conspired to ensure that Russell's eighth college start would be a learning experience.
But Alabama could not afford for him to learn it the hard way.
This was a season-on-the-line contest for UA, as every game for the balance of the schedule will be, and Russell ultimately pulled both his own performance and Alabama's out of some dangerous flames with a brilliant second-half showing. He completed 10 of 11 passes over the last two quarters for 150 yards, two touchdowns and no turnovers. It wasn't unlike a Week 2 performance at Kentucky, in which he also overcame a miserable first half. But this one was more closely contested, in a higher-stakes game.
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This one couldn't slip away.
And boy, did it look like it might for awhile.
Russell was hamstrung through no fault of his own in a couple different ways, not the least of which was injuries to key personnel. His center, Racin Delgatty, missed his second consecutive game, as did his most dangerous wide receiver, Ryan Coleman-Williams.
Throw in an injury to left guard William Sanders, who will be out for multiple weeks, per DeBoer, and the interior of Russell's offensive line was patchwork. In part due to the compromised line, the Alabama offense couldn't get much production from its rushing attack, nor did it show much of a commitment to one. That, as Alabama learned in its previous two losses, doesn't bode well for Russell.
Atop all that, UA kicker Conor Talty missed his first two field goals of the season.
Not exactly a recipe for success, and Russell added his own sour ingredient to the soup when he made a highly ill-advised throw for an interception by A&M's Dezz Ricks. At the time, Russell already appeared to be pressing, never moreso than when he made a miraculous escape of the Texas A&M pass rush, spinning away from a would-be sack, only to put a pass right into enemy hands.
That was early. This was late:
Russell fired touchdown passes to tight ends Marshall Pritchett and Kaleb Edwards to take a double-digit lead, and connected with Rico Scott for a career-high 156 receiving yards. He wasn't impatient: he was in command. He wasn't reckless, and he made big plays at key moments to finish with 311 passing yards.
He looked like a different quarterback, one that is more than capable of leading Alabama to bigger moments this season.
And the one Alabama will need for four quarters at LSU in two weeks.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Lessons learned vs Texas A&M for Alabama QB Keelon Russell | Goodbread