Keelon Russell Flashes Potential As Alabama Shines On Senior Day: Notebook

The Crimson Tide dismantled Eastern Illinois 56-0 in its final home game of the regular season.

Nov 22, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Keelon Russell (12) carries the ball during the second half against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. | David Leong-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football rebounded from last week's loss to Oklahoma with a 56-0 shutout of FCS Eastern Illinois. The Crimson Tide's defense dominated, holding the Panthers to just 34 yards on the day, while the offense imposed its will on the ground with over 250 yards and eight touchdowns.

The game represented a mix of the soon-to-be past and future of Alabama football, as the Crimson Tide honored its seniors at Senior Day, while true freshman quarterback Keelon Russell put his potential on display. Here are some notes from the game:

Alabama gets walk-on seniors into the game on Senior Day:

It was senior day for the Crimson Tide. 27 seniors were recognized pregame for their contributions to the team in a ceremony that invoked emotions from those playing their last games in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"What an honor it is to represent this university and play here. I was getting a little choked up on the sideline with my family a little bit," senior offensive lineman Geno VanDeMark said. "College football went by fast. The days are long, but the years are short. It's a special ride for sure."

As Alabama closed out the shutout, numerous walk-on and reserve seniors were able to appear in the game for their first action since the Louisiana-Monroe game in September, something that the starters had highlighted as a goal this week.

"It meant a ton for me personally. That's what motivated me this week," VanDeMark said. "That was a huge thing on my mind for sure."

Alabama football class of 2025:

JD Baird
Germie Bernard
Prince Butler
Cade Carruth
MJ Chirgwin
Josh Cuevas
Brody Dalton
Kam Dewberry
Blake Doud
Nikhai Hill-Green
Domani Jackson
Justin Jefferson
DaShawn Jones
Tim Keenan lll
Peter Knudson
Deontae Lawson
Jay Loper Jr.
Jam Miller
LT…

— Henry Sklar (@HenryOSklar) November 22, 2025

Ryan Grubb coaches from the field instead of a box:

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has coached from a box up in the stadium for every game this season, as most offensive coordinators do. He chose to instead coach down on the field today.

"It was awesome for him to come over, coach us up," VanDeMark said. "He told us he would be on the sideline because he thought he could help, and I think he did. It was a big positive for sure."

Grubb and head coach Kalen DeBoer have discussed trying this for a while, and the matchup against the FCS Panthers provided a perfect opportunity to finally do so.

"Today was a good opportunity to do that, so we'll hash that out, kind of see what we want to do moving forward," DeBoer said. "I thought the communication was really good. There's an impact that I think he makes when he's around the players. They feed off him."

Grubb had a particularly big impact on the offensive line as a former line coach earlier in his career.

"He knows what he's talking about when he talks about offensive line play," VanDeMark said. "He brings a lot of valuable insight, maybe tweaking a drill here or there, bringing you to the side, pointing out stuff in your game to help with. I thought it helped tremendously."

Keelon Russell continues to develop:

True freshman quarterback Keelon Russell saw the field for the first time since Alabama's September win over Louisiana-Monroe. DeBoer talked about the former five-star's continued growth through the practice reps he has gotten over the past two months.

"I credit him, I credit our staff, it's always hard to get three guys a lot of reps in practice, but I think we've really done a good job," DeBoer said. "Credit to Nick Sheridan, Ryan Grubb, for having some intentionality about how we can get all those guys really important, valuable reps. They take it very seriously."

Russell went 7-9 with 78 yards in the win. He had previously gone 4-6 with 65 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Warhawks. There were a lot of positives from his performance on Saturday.

"I thought he makes a lot of good decisions," DeBoer said. "There was one to finish a drive where he probably got a little anxious, a little quick on it, I think he could have hung in there a little bit longer, could have made something happen. But, that's going to happen, especially with where he's at his progression, but he's come a long way throughout the season with the way he spits out things in the huddle, just command of the offense, command of the verbiage. He's right there doing a great job."

TideBits:

• Alabama's honorary captains were Cyrus Kouandjio and Arie Kouandjio.

• The attendance was listed at 100,077; however that number was much lower as many students were not at the game as they traveled home for Thanksgiving break.

• Kickoff temperature was 77 degrees.

• Alabama celebrated Bama Salute Military Appreciation Day at the game, with numerous veterans honored on the field.

• This was Alabama's shortest game of the season at just three hours and two minutes.