Florida State's 31-17 win over No. 8 Alabama was stunning -- the Seminoles were 14-point underdogs and won that margin, in the other direction -- but not all together new.
The Seminoles were one step ahead of the Crimson Tide all night, on the grass and the chalkboard. Seven different Seminoles toted carries on Saturday, together totaling 49 carries for 230 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Thomas Castellanos completed 9-of-14 passes for 152 yards while leading all rushers with 78 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
One could say he played like a shorter Cam Newton, or a thicker Nick Marshall.
Those comparisons aren't accidental. Florida State's offense came from the mind of Gus Malzahn, who did this type of thing a time or three in his decade at Auburn.
Felt like old times tonight!! ๐ข
โ Coach Gus Malzahn (@CoachGusMalzahn) August 30, 2025
The win moved Malzahn to a personal 6-7 record against Alabama -- which doesn't sound all that impressive until you realize the vast majority of those games came against Nick Saban.
Malzahn's first win against Alabama came in 2006, a 24-23 double overtime win as Arkansas's offensive coordinator over a Mike Shula-led Tide team.
Each of Malzahn's subsequent meetings with Alabama came in the Iron Bowl. His first Iron Bowl saw Auburn, a 10-point underdog, play an undefeated and 2nd-ranked Alabama to a 26-21 final, a game the Tigers led until the final 90 seconds.
Malzahn scored a win the next season, the famed Camback in which Auburn turned a 24-0 deficit into a 28-27 win en route to the 2010 national championship. After a 2011 loss and a year at Arkansas State, Malzahn returned to Auburn as head coach and secured his third win over Alabama in the Kick Six game in 2013.
Malzahn beat Alabama for a fourth and fifth time in 2017 (26-14) and 2019 (48-45). In all, Malzahn is 5-3 when his team plays Alabama at home, and 1-4 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Saturday marked Win No. 6, perhaps the most satisfying of them all considering Malzahn likely thought he was done beating Alabama after his 2020 firing at Auburn and his unsuccessful four years at UCF. He considered retirement before taking the Florida State offensive coordinator job under Mike Norvell, his former colleague at Tulsa.
Hopefully for Florida State, Saturday's win ends a cosmic curse put on the program by Florida State after the 13-0 Seminoles were passed over by the College Football Playoff committee in favor of 12-1 Alabama in 2023. FSU was 2-11 between Selection Sunday of 2023 and Saturday.
The 31-17 win was the first time Florida State put 30 points on an FBS defense since a 41-16 win over Wake Forest on Sept. 28, 2023.