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Gus Malzahn champions his success against Alabama after Florida State upset: 'Felt like old times'

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp08/31/25
Gus Malzahn
Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn shares some instructions with players during preseason camp. (Gene Williams/Warchant)

To the victor go the spoils, they say. Well, Gus Malzahn is both victorious and collecting his spoils on Saturday night after scoring a huge upset over No. 8 Alabama in his Florida State debut.

The new Seminoles offensive coordinator was in his bag in the 31-17 win. Quarterback Thomas Castellanos was used to perfection in orchestrating the win.

And Gus Malzahn, who knows a thing or two about beating Alabama after coaching at Auburn for years, didn’t waste time after the game. He chimed in immediately on Twitter.

“Felt like old times tonight!!” Malzahn wrote. He included a spear emoji in his tweet.

The offense was on point throughout the evening for Gus Malzahn. He produced 382 yards in the game against the Alabama defense, doing it in a fairly balanced fashion.

Castellanos was the central figure who made it all work. He finished with 152 yards passing, to go along with a team-leading 16 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown on the ground. That was enough to propel Florida State to an early lead, and the defense did the rest.

For Gus Malzahn, though, the win had to be quite validating. He took the Florida State offensive coordinator job after stepping down as the head coach at UCF.

And Florida State was nearly a two-touchdown underdog in the contest. The Seminoles were coming off a 2-10 season in 2024 and while an offseason overhaul by coach Mike Norvell promised change, few saw Florida State upsetting Alabama in the opener.

“It was a complete team victory, and that’s what I love,” Norvell said. “Offense, defense, they showed up big. … That’s what this game is all about. That’s how we train, that’s how we work. They were there for each other and just did a great job together.”

Alabama looked to impose its will on offense with the ground game, but the Florida State defense held strong. The Crimson Tide totaled just 87 rushing yards while Ty Simpson completed 23 of 43 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns in the air. FSU, meanwhile, totaled 230 rushing yards on the ground – led by the 78 from Castellanos and 56 yards on three carries from Micahi Danzy.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report.