Few coaches in recent history have had more success against Alabama than Gus Malzahn, and he added another win to his resume on Saturday afternoon in a shocking upset. This time, Malzahn helped take down the Crimson Tide as Florida State’s offensive coordinator, and he took a jab at his longtime rivals on social media after the game.
In his first game as a member of Mike Norvell’s coaching staff, Malzahn called a brilliant game, resulting in 31 points and 230 rushing yards for the Seminoles. No stranger to pulling off upsets over Alabama, Malzahn felt right at home as fans stormed the field at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s basketball coach and Malzahn’s longtime friend, got in on the fun, too.
One of the biggest reasons for Florida State’s offensive success was the marriage of Malzahn’s scheme and Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos’ dual-threat ability. In his postgame press conference, Castellanos said Malzahn’s experience against Alabama proved to be a major advantage.
“He’s played against Alabama 12 or 13 times and won six times,” Castellanos said. “He just knows them very well. We had a good game plan set up. He knew exactly what they were gonna and and when they were gonna do it, and it worked. We put our faith in his play calling, and he put us in the best position to go out there and execute plays.”
Going back to his time as the Arkansas offensive coordinator in 2006, Malzahn has now been on the winning side against the Crimson Tide a total of six times. Four of those wins came against Nick Saban — and three of those came when Malzahn was the head coach on The Plains.
During his tenure at Auburn, Malzahn and his team pulled off some miraculous wins over Alabama, including the iconic “Kick Six” in 2013. This win wasn’t as dramatic, but it was probably just as satisfying.
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