Johnny Manziel says nobody fears Alabama anymore after FSU upset loss

The Alabama Crimson Tide were shocked on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 8-ranked team fell to unranked Florida State, 31-17, to kick off the 2025 college football season. 

The massive upset was a major storyline in college football, especially considering the fear factor the Crimson Tide have had over the sport for years. 

But Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel said that general fear of Alabama is no more for the other programs they face on the schedule. 

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Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos (1) scores a 9-yard rushing touchdown past Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson (0) during the first half of a college football game on Aug. 30, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida.  (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

“In the past, you walk in facing an Alabama team, you probably got a little fear,” Manziel, who knows all about Alabama having played his college ball at Texas A&M, said on the “Nightcap Show” with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson. “This is ‘Bama. The team has been a dynasty, you got a little fear. That fear aspect of what Alabama is – completely gone. Ain’t nobody scared of them boys. Not Vandy (Vanderbilt), not Kentucky, not nobody. Nobody’s walking in seeing Alabama on the schedule and having any kind of shake, any kind of fear, nothing. 

“They’ve been getting wiped the last couple of years. You say that buyout is deep, but not going to sit here and let this stand for sure. They’ll go find it in the woods somewhere.”

Manziel isn’t the only one to call out the Crimson Tide. 

ESPN STAR WARNS ALABAMA FANS AMID TEAM’S UPSET LOSS TO FLORIDA STATE

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith sent a warning to ‘Bama fans following the loss to the Seminoles, saying the Nick Saban days are long gone. 

“I’m sorry folks. I really am. But it just seems to be as if the days of @AlabamaFTBL – Nick Saban’s @AlabamaFTBL — is looooonnngggg gone. Sacks surrendered. Dropped passes. A QB who’s not a real scrambler/runner, and doesn’t appear to have a strong enough arm to throw on the run,” he wrote on X. “Maybe this turnover by Lucas of @FloridaState, but I doubt it.”

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Florida State, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Tallahassee, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Seminoles quarterback Thomas Castellanos ran for 78 yards with a touchdown and threw for 152 passing yards in the victory over the Crimson Tide, ending their impressive 23-game season-opener win streak. 

Saban is the legendary head coach who won six national championships with Alabama, including those in 2015, 2017 and 2020. But he retired in 2024, with the Crimson Tide pivoting to Kalen DeBoer to fill some accomplished shoes in Tuscaloosa. 

But DeBoer’s debut season was a failure in the eyes of the Crimson Tide faithful, having missed the College Football Playoff. In 2023, Saban’s final year, the Crimson Tide lost to the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl, missing out on a shot at competing in the national title game again. 

Former Texas A&M and Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel looks on prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns on Nov. 30, 2024. (Maria Lysaker/Imagn Images)

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With this loss to the Seminoles, Alabama’s schedule only gets harder moving forward in 2025. They will face Georgia next month, while also having to see other powerhouses like Tennessee, LSU, South Carolina and Oklahoma in consecutive weeks. 

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