TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Keelon Russell is 1-0 as Alabama's starting quarterback.

The sophomore beat senior Austin Mack in a quarterback battle for the ages that lasted the entire offseason, and in his first start, Russell led the Crimson Tide to a 48-10 victory over East Carolina. Throughout the competition with Mack, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer stressed that he wanted to see "poise" from the ultimate winner.

So, how did DeBoer assess Russell's poise in Week 1?

"I think his poise when the bullets are flying is really good," DeBoer said during the postgame press conference. The football part, he's thinking pretty quickly and going to make plays and is instinctive. And he made a lot of big plays, and that's what we'll focus on first.

"But then we know that you just can't have a wasted play or burn a timeout. It's easy stuff. It's stuff that we can get cleaned up. Having some urgency on it for him, I think, will be the case, and I have no doubt that he'll take care of that."

By halftime, Russell completed 11 of 17 pass attempts for 182 yards, while also rushing for 54 yards, including a 23-yard run, plus a touchdown on nine carries. He scrambled a good bit in the first two quarters, but also trusted his offensive line and stood in the pocket to find an open receiver.

Russell's day ended late in the fourth quarter, and Austin Mack subbed in for him. Russell finished his first collegiate start with 249 passing yards (17 of 29 pass attempts) and 86 rushing yards with a score (13 attempts).

That said, it wasn't perfect, as he fumbled the ball on a miscommunicated reverse with Ryan Coleman-Williams and also committed an intentional grounding penalty after not releasing the ball in time. He also rarely slid and took on tackles, which DeBoer said will be fixed.

"It's not even the coaches, it's the players too," Russell said after the game when asked about sliding. "They want me to be protected. I've got to do a better job on that. You're going to see a lot of indie drills of sliding this week and I'm just ready for it."

Russell, a former 5-star recruit and Gatorade National Football Player of the Year, is known as a dual-threat quarterback. While sliding wasn't a part of his arsenal on Saturday, he used his legs as an advantage on numerous occasions.

"Obviously I could do better in a lot of things, but just being a playmaker, it's the best thing that a quarterback can be when stuff is not there. ECU has an amazing defensive structure and stuff was not clicking right away.

"So, you only have a certain time limit in the pocket where you feel like you might get rushed. The pocket might break down, and I just took advantage of it. God blessed me with some legs, so why not use them?"

Russell's been praised all offseason for his athleticism. Coleman-Williams even said on A-Day that "you're playing a video game when [Russell] is in." The Crimson Tide's defense has seen its fair share of the most important player on the other side of the ball and liked what they saw on Saturday.

"I was happy for him, that's my locker mate," Wolf linebacker Yhonzae Pierre, who had a pick-six on Saturday, said. "We talk a lot every day. I'm proud of him and he's got a lot more to show.

"I tell him to keep a clear mind. You're made for it. You wouldn't be in this spot if you weren't here. I mean, I would not. He's a dog and he's got a lot more coming for y'all."

Russell had a great day, one of the best first collegiate starts for an Alabama quarterback. But when asked what his biggest takeaway was, he stayed in the negative.

"Just operational speed in and out of the huddle — I've got to be a little bit better at that. I'm going to criticize myself on that because I don't look at myself as a freshman, I look at myself as a veteran. I just want to thank the guys for sticking with me and not giving up on me. The linemen, they were phenomenal today. The receivers, they were phenomenal today. And I could do better on my behalf."

Top 10 Passer Ratings in Alabama Starting Debut

By completing 17 of 21 passes for 249 yards, Russell finished just outside of the top 10 in passer rating by a quarterback making his starting debut at Alabama (10 completions minimum), at 130.74. However, it was the second-best rating among those who didn't have a touchdown pass, and the 86 rushing yards were the second-most overall.

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