FSU QB Thomas Castellanos reveals true feelings on walking the trash talk after humiliating Kalen DeBoer's Alabama in 31-17 loss

Quarterback Thomas Castellanos led Florida State to a 31-17 victory over Alabama on Saturday and snapped the Crimson Tide’s 23-game streak of season-opening wins under coach Kalen DeBoer.

Castellanos’ comments in the offseason served as motivational fuel for FSU. In June, he declared that Alabama wouldn’t have Nick Saban to rely on and that he didn’t see anyone stopping him. It was a statement many dismissed given Florida State’s 2-10 record in 2024.

But Castellanos backed up his bold words with his performance against the No. 8 Crimson Tide, making defenders miss and finishing 9 of 14 for 152 yards, while adding 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

After the game, Castellanos reaffirmed his earlier confidence.

"It feels great," Castellanos said. "I relied on my teammates today, relied on my coaches. They put us in a position to go out there and execute and win. We came together today.

"We heard everything everybody said, we'd seen everything everybody said, and we just added that fuel to the fire, and we went out there and just played ball together. We went out there together, and we executed."

As a three-star recruit from Waycross High School in Georgia, Castellanos initially signed with Central Florida before transferring to Boston College. Following a benching in 2024, he joined Mike Norvell’s Florida State in December.

Thomas Castellanos delivers a heartfelt message to FSU fans

Despite being the underdog, Florida State dominated much of their game against Alabama on Saturday, as they led 17-10 at halftime and never let up.

When the final seconds expired, FSU fans stormed the field to celebrate the 31-17 win, and Thomas Castellanos was visibly energized by their enthusiasm.

"Today, I never played in an atmosphere like that," Castellanos said (via CBS Sports). "The fans were in it the whole entire game. They were cheering, they were loud."

Castellanos also had a message for FSU fans:

"If you guys show up every single week and just be hostile and just be that way, it's going to help us a lot. You guys make a big impact on the game. It gives us strength and energy and some juice just because of you guys. To the fans: week in and week out, continue to do the same thing. We love it."

Florida State will work to carry this momentum into their Week 2 matchup against East Texas A&M on Sept. 6.

About the author

Maliha is a High School Sports news and listicles writer at Sportskeeda. A post graduate in Management Information Systems, it was her love for writing and sports which led her down the path of sports content creation. An experienced NBA and NFL writer, she covered the two sports extensively at SportsZion and SportsKnot before joining SportsKeeda.

Maliha is a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and is in awe of quarterback Lamar Jackson's dual-threat abilities. She also admires Tom Brady and her all-time favorite coach is 3-time Super Bowl champion Andy Reid. She is a big advocate of high school sports and believes that elite athletes reach a top level owing to the discipline, hard work, team dynamics, resilience, adaptability and self-confidence learnt by playing sports in high schools. Aaron Rodgers leading the Green Bay Packers to victory on his debut against the Minnesota Vikings is one of her fondest NFL memories.

Maliha places a high emphasis on accuracy in her content. She does thorough research, always double checks facts, and only uses information from most relevant and credible sources for her articles. When not writing, she likes to read history and biographical books.

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