Russaw Says Alabama's Defense was "Scared to Mess Up"

Qua Russaw admitted it. The Alabama defense was scared on Saturday in the Tide's 31-17 loss to Florida State.

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Alabama's defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said his defense played "timid" during his Monday availability. He also said the staff was "highly disappointed" in the effort from the defense on Saturday.

During Tuesday's player availability, Wolf linebacker Qua Russaw said the Alabama defense was scared to make mistakes against Florida State.

"I would just say it's more of guys just trying to do their job and a little scared to mess up," Russaw said. "We have guys all over the team, athletic-wise, who can just have fun, man. That's all the coaches are trying to get us to do is just be ourselves. We don't have to hesitate. Just go and just pull the pin. Just go."

Why was Alabama's defense scared to mess up?

"I don't know," Russaw said. "That's something I can't answer."

Coaches implement a 24-hour rule for their teams, where you have 24 hours to celebrate a win or be upset after a loss. It's been three days since Alabama fell to FSU, and coaches and players are still talking about Alabama's upset loss to the Seminoles. Qua Russaw thinks Alabama can still be dominant, and it starts with the Tide moving on from the Florida State loss, regardless of the next opponent on the schedule.

"flying around and having fun out there on game day," Russaw said. "Just moving on. Just knowing that wasn't us. That wasn't our best ballgame that we played last game. Just knowing where we went wrong, accepting it, not just saying excuses and that. Just accepting we didn't do good and fixing that this week."

Alabama will take on Louisiana-Monroe at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, on the SEC Network.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.