Florida State QB trashes Alabama: 'They don't have Nick Saban to save them'

Thomas Castellanos will lead the Florida State offense as the Seminoles host SEC power Alabama in the 2025 season opener, and it’s safe the say the quarterback has given his first opponent some bulletin board material to mull over.

Castellanos called out Alabama for not being the same football team it was under Nick Saban, and thinks he and the Noles can take advantage in Week 1.

“I don’t know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast,” Castellanos told On3 Sports.

“I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”

A little something for the Crimson Tide to consider as they prepare for the season opener, the first outing for second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer.

His first time out as Saban’s successor had its ups and downs.

The ups? A signature win at home against Georgia and a dominant victory at LSU.

The downs? Losing to perennial SEC bottom-feeder Vanderbilt, at unranked Oklahoma, against rival Tennessee, and to Michigan, which fielded one of college football’s worst offenses a year ago, in the bowl game.

In all, it was a 9-4 debut that deprived Alabama a place in the newly-expanded College Football Playoff and raised some criticism around DeBoer’s staying power under the glare of a fanbase with punishing standards.

Castellanos hopes to revive Florida State’s fortunes, after the team stumbled through a 2-10 identity crisis a year ago that no one saw coming.

That was just one year removed from going undefeated in the regular season and winning the ACC Championship, but controversially being left out of the playoff, ironically so that Alabama would take the last spot.

That’s likely something that will be on the mind of Seminoles fans as the Crimson Tide come to Doak Campbell Stadium in late August.

Castellanos is an exciting dual-threat quarterback, completing just under 59 percent of his passes with 3,689 yards and 33 touchdowns in his career.

On the ground, he has 1,427 rushing yards and another 15 touchdowns, and looks forward to working in an offense that will exploit both dimensions of his skill set.

Last season, he had 2,248 yards passing with 15 scores while rushing for 1,113 yards and another 13 touchdowns, production he hopes to emulate and build on with the Seminoles.

Castellanos transferred to Florida State this offseason after departing Boston College to reunite with Gus Malzahn, who will call the Seminoles’ offensive plays this year.

Despite the confidence of the Seminoles’ quarterback, the bookmakers are staying firmly aligned with the visitors from the SEC in this matchup.

Alabama remains a 12.5 point favorite against Florida State in their Week 1 game, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

The books give Alabama a projected over/under win total of 9.5 games, compared to the 7.5 game mark they give Florida State.

The Seminoles are projected to be one of the teams in college football that improves the most by the betting standards, and that project begins on Aug. 30 against Alabama.

(On3)

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