No. 3 Alabama is ready to take on Vanderbilt on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET, but there’s some uncertainty around the Crimson Tide’s quarterback situation.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday night that backup quarterback Austin Mack was expected to start in place of Keelon Russell, who is dealing with an ankle injury. Thamel noted that Russell is still expected to be active for the game, but he will not get the starting role.
“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.
Alabama Changed QBs
However, something must have changed heading into the game, as Alabama is now starting Russell.
Mike Rodak of Bama 247Sports reported that during pregame warmups, Russell took all of the first-team 11-on-11 reps, while Mack took reps with the second team.
And On3’s Pete Nakos reported at 12:22 p.m. that Russell was a game-time decision.
Alabama was probably wanting to see how Russell would respond to pregame warmups, and it must have gone well.
Russell suffered an ankle injury in Week 10 against LSU, but he didn’t miss any action and was available for practice starting Tuesday. Alabama never listed Russell as questionable or doubtful on its injury report and categorized his status as probable.
Head coach Kalen DeBoer said Russell was day-to-day on Monday and had full trust in Mack if Alabama had to start him.
“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.”
Alabama Makes QB Change After Austin Mack Was Reportedly Set to Start