Alabama coach Kalen De Boer squinted into the sun's glare scraping the top of Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, earlier this month. A hard-fought come-from-behind win was nearing its end -- signaled by the change from starting quarterback Keelon Russell to Austin Mack. Russell, his helmet left on the bench, stood outside of the offensive huddle before turning and walking over to De Boer. Later, Russell would tell reporters part of his message: "I'm willing to work my mmm off this week going into FSU."

While the final score -- Alabama 45, Kentucky 17 -- presented as a resounding success, the first half was disastrous. Russell threw a pick-six on the ninth play of the game, fumbled six plays later, and threw another interception before halftime. But inside the locker room, Russell wasn't acting as if his job was on the line. De Boer said he saw Russell go over to the defense and "just owning some of the things that he fell short on."

Russell didn't light up the stat sheet during the second-half comeback, but he settled in nicely with no turnovers, including a 23-yard strike to Ryan Coleman-Williams and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rico Scott. Last Saturday, hosting Florida State, Russell started slow again but didn't turn the ball over. He threw for three touchdowns and sprinted for a 56-yard touchdown run as the Tide scored on nine straight possessions to close a 50-36 win.

"I think every game there's something that he's doing a better job with," De Boer said. As Alabama closes the first quarter of the regular season with a 3-0 record and a No. 8 ranking, it needs progress to continue. On Saturday, South Carolina comes to town with star pass rusher Dylan Stewart healthy again.