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Deontae Lawson's game-changing turnover in Alabama's win over South Carolina proves he made the right choice last offseason

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Oct 26, 2025 8:38 AM ET

Late in the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, it seemed as if South Carolina had gone into preservation mode. Just attempting to get the game to overtime and seeing if maybe they could get within range for a game-winning field goal.

But Deontae Lawson and Tim Keenan III had other ideas, forcing a fumble that would go to set up the game-winning TD play from Germie Bernard.

However, the play came with a deeper meaning, one that Lawson would be proud of when looking back on his offseason.

Deontae Lawson's forced fumble, level of play proves he made the right decision to return to Alabama

"I'm so proud of that guy," Kalen DeBoer said of Lawson after the game. "He's just getting better too. He was [out for] number of months last year, but he's getting better in practice. You can see it. And there's just things [where] he's working so hard to get his body right. It's awesome to see him come through. And just the leadership piece, it's so important to have him out there."

What. A. Play.

Incredible reaction and awareness from Deontae Lawson set up Alabama to possibly put this thing away. pic.twitter.com/PMZSabWX7t
— Sidelines - Bama (@SSN_Alabama) October 25, 2025

If not for a season-ending knee injury in 2024, Lawson would likely be in the National Football League by now. Honestly, even with the knee, there is a strong likelihood that he would have been drafted or at least given a UDFA spot. But Lawson wanted something more. Both individually and collectively. And now what he wanted is starting to look possible.

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“It was definitely a very hard decision,” said Lawson of his decsion to return to Alabama via On3 during SEC Media Days. “I think any college athlete, any college football player, we all have dreams and aspirations of playing at the next level. I feel like I had the opportunity. But I had to look past that a little bit. There were still some things I needed to work on — being a leader more, more of a vocal leader, and just building more relationships off the field,"

” I feel like this would be a good year to kind of set me up for life after football. Obviously, I have dreams and aspirations of playing at the next level. I think the injury made me realize it could be taken away from you at any point. It kind of made me just want to dig deeper — and life after football or some goals after football and getting some relationships settled. I think that was the biggest thing. It definitely was a tough decision, though.”

A tough decsion that may already be paying dividends.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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