Alabama is back in the national title conversation ... but now comes Georgia
· Yahoo Sports
After Year 2 A.N. (After Nick), the verdict was in on Alabama: Talented but inconsistent. Capable of big wins, also likely to faceplant on the road against inferior competition. Bottom line: no longer a serious national contender.
After five games in Year 3 A.N., here's what we know: This year's version of the Tide can score points in bunches, running up 45 or more per game. After a miserable season on the ground in 2025, Alabama's running game is an actual threat. In Keelon Russell, Kalen DeBoer finally has his own quarterback to execute his vision, and the results have been Heisman invitation-worthy.
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Now, the caveat: Alabama was favored in all five of those games by at least 5.5 points. The Tide took care of business, but now the real work begins. This weekend, Hurricane Isaias permitting, No. 6 Alabama faces No. 2 Georgia in Tuscaloosa, beginning a brutal four-game gauntlet that will determine whether this squad truly is ready for January.
With all due respect to Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia Tech and any other program that considers itself a rival of either of these programs, the Georgia-Alabama battle is the Godzilla vs. Kong of the SEC, usually with national implications. The two programs have won 11 of the last 12 SEC titles, with 2019 LSU the lone exception. They've claimed three of the six national titles in the 2020s, though none since Georgia in 2022.
Keelon Russell has emerged as a star under center for Alabama, but Georgia will his first big test.Justin Ford via Getty ImagesSince 2020, Alabama has the 5-2 edge over Georgia, though the Dawgs' two wins are good ones: last year's SEC championship, and much more notably, the 2021 season national championship game. So, yes, this rivalry means something.
"Georgia, they're gonna be our toughest challenge by far up to this point," DeBoer said earlier this week. "You see them getting after people in the first half, and just sustaining the course, and sustaining it all game long. … We've got to be at our best this Saturday, and looking forward to a great challenge."
Given that neither team has faced a true powerhouse yet, here are the numbers that could tell the story. Alabama's rushing offense is vastly improved from its 2025 version, which ranked second-to-last in the SEC; the current version is piling up 186.4 yards per game, 85 more than last year's woeful effort. But Georgia's run defense is the best in the SEC, allowing just 57.4 yards per game. With the potential for weather to be a factor, the trench battles will be key.
Georgia, meanwhile, averages an NCAA-best 51.4 points per game. If Alabama has one of its typical slow starts against the Bulldogs, the Tide — which is a middle-of-the-SEC defense, allowing 20.8 points per game — will be fighting uphill the rest of the evening.
"This version [of Georgia], I mean, it's just jumped all over people," DeBoer said. "I think that's the biggest thing, is they come out of the gate swinging, and so, you gotta be ready for that. And we gotta be ready when the ball is kicked off."
For the second straight week, Russell will face off against a fellow marquee SEC quarterback, but Georgia's Gunner Stockton has a whole lot more experience in these situations than Mississippi State's Kamario Taylor did. Stockton boasts a 6-2 record against ranked opponents; Russell faced his first one just last week.
This weekend marks the first of a month of heavyweight bouts for Alabama. After Georgia, Alabama faces No. 15 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU on the road, with Texas A&M at home in between. One loss out of that quartet, maybe even two, won't doom the Tide's chances to make the playoff. But just "making the playoff" isn't the Alabama standard; challenging for a national championship is.
If DeBoer is going to wash the stain of the last two seasons' ends — a missed CFP berth in 2024, an evisceration at the hands of Indiana last season — he'll need to lead Alabama to more than just an appearance in the CFP. And it all starts this weekend.