The No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide has two more SEC regular-season showdowns left, including one on Saturday at Vanderbilt. However, Alabama will not be starting one of its best players. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Alabama is expected to start quarterback Austin Mack, with Keelon Russell expected to be available as he nurses an ankle injury but won’t start.
“Alabama is expected to start Austin Mack at quarterback against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Starter Keelon Russell (ankle) is expected to be available, but the expectation is the Tide staff holds him out and lets his ankle heal. Russell has been listed as probable,” Thamel wrote Friday on X.
Keelon Russell Was to Day-to-Day This Week
Head coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday that Russell was day-to-day with his ankle injury.
“You’re weighing how he feels with what the medical staff says, as far as we never want to hurt him,” DeBoer said, via Touchdown Alabama’s Matthew Mason. “He’s got to go out there and obviously play at a level that can help us win. We have a lot of confidence if we had to move to Austin [Mack] at some point.
“He’s day-to-day. He continued and finished out the game, so that’s a good sign right there. He’s had other things that have popped up in game where he’s played through it, and you guys have seen that too when you’re paying close attention. He stays out on the football field and keeps doing his thing. For him to play at the level that he played at, getting dinged up a little bit, was impressive in itself. I’d expect him to do everything he can to get out on the football field.”
Russell has played in all nine games this season, recording 2,263 passing yards and 18 touchdowns to five interceptions.
Who is Austin Mack?
Mack is in his third season with Alabama, after he kicked off his college career at Washington under DeBoer in 2023. Throughout his college career, he has played in nine games, all with the Crimson Tide, completing 29 of 39 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns.
Alabama is probably thinking it can get by this week with Mack starting, as Vanderbilt is 1-5 in SEC play. But the last time the Crimson Tide traveled to Nashville to play Vanderbilt, it lost in 2024. That Vanderbilt team featured Diego Pavia, who became one of the best quarterbacks in college football.
If Alabama comes away with a win this week, it will have an easier matchup in Week 12, when the Crimson Tide will host FCS Chattanooga. Alabama could start Mack for that contest, then let Russell have two weeks off before playing Auburn to finish the regular season and potentially play in the SEC title game the first weekend of December.
Alabama Facing Concerning Keelon Russell News Going Into Vanderbilt Game