The Alabama football program got off to a brutal start to the 2025 college football season, losing 31-17 to the Florida State Seminoles in their first game of the new year. To make matters even worse, star wide receiver Ryan Williams left the game early due to a head injury following a scary collision with a Florida State defender that resulted in a penalty.
Now, the big question in Tuscaloosa revolves around the status of Williams and whether he will be able to go in Alabama's next game.
“(Williams) Will go through concussion protocol throughout the week,” Alabama football head coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday, per Nick Kelly of AL.com.
The Crimson Tide are officially listing the star wide receiver as day-to-day.
DeBoer also spoke on the status of wide receiver Isaiah Horton, who was battling through a lower body injury during the game against the Seminoles.
“Still feeling that a little bit,” DeBoer said. “He just continued to compete.”
Tough times in Tuscaloosa
The recent 2024 graduating class was the first in well over a decade that had spent their four years on the Alabama campus without seeing their team win a national championship during their time there.
If Saturday's result is any indication, that streak may continue for a while longer.
The Crimson Tide's highly-touted defensive line looked like a JV team playing against a varsity squad in the Florida State matchup, as the team constantly got run over for extra yardage and didn't put a ton of pressure on Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos.
DeBoer and his staff are now left with far more questions than answers following last year's tough season that resulted in missing the playoffs altogether despite the new expanded 12-team format.
The good news for Alabama is that they now have two seemingly easier games against Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin before their SEC schedule begins, and they'll certainly be hoping that Ryan Williams is back in the lineup by that time.
In any case, Alabama's game against Louisiana-Monroe is slated for Saturday evening at 7:45 pm ET from Tuscaloosa.
