Alabama Opponent Preview – Georgia

As we inch toward the beginning of the Kalen DeBoer era in Tuscaloosa, we preview Alabama Football's opponents for the 2024-2025 regular season.

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Last Meeting - December 2, 2023

Alabama - 27
Georgia - 24

The Alabama Crimson Tide went into the 2023 SEC championship as the underdogs to the Georgia Bulldogs. If Alabama won, the Tide punched their ticket to the 2023-2024 College Football Playoff. Milroe threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns en route to the 30th SEC championship in Alabama football history. It was also the final win for Nick Saban at Alabama.

Kirby Smart is entering his ninth season as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, and he's already built a Hall of Fame résumé. Smart is one of two coaches currently in college football who have won multiple national championships, and he was the first since Nick Saban (2011, 2012) to win back-to-back national championships (2021,2022). Smart and Georgia also appeared in the 2017 CFP National Championship but lost to Alabama. He boasts two SEC Championships and six bowl victories across a 94-16 record as the head coach of Georgia.

LAST SEASON

In 2023, Georgia was 12-0 and the No. 1 team in the country heading into the SEC Championship against Alabama. After losing the SEC championship, the two-time defending national champions were left out of the College Football Playoff and played the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl. Georgia Routed Florida State 63-3.

Last Season's Leaders

Passing: Carson Beck - 3,941 yards, 24 TD, 6 INT
Rushing: Daijun Edwards - 881 yards, 13 TD
Receiving: Brock Bowers - 56 catches, 714 yards, 6 TD

GEORGIA OFFENSE

Smart runs the Georgia program as an almost carbon copy of the way Nick Saban was running Alabama when Smart left, and it's proven to have results. Georgia is considered the "gold standard" of the college football world right now. Offensively, Georgia looks to establish the ground game before letting the quarterback make smart decisions and keep the ball out of harm's way. Carson Beck does a good job of protecting the football, and his ability to extend a play makes it tough for a defense to anticipate what he's going to do. Last season, Georgia ran the ball 52.2% of the time, establishing a more balanced offense than some might have expected from the Bulldogs. They had the 20th-ranked rushing offense in the country last season, averaging 5.3 yards per attempt and 191.2 rush yards per game. Despite losing their top two running backs from last season to the NFL, Georgia might have improved in the run game by adding Florida transfer Trevor Etienne, who rushed for 753 yards and eight touchdowns for the Gators in 2023. Shockingly, Georgia has not had a 1,000-yard running back since D'Andre Swift in 2019. However, the Bulldogs employ a strategy of multi-headed monsters at running back, even when they did have multiple 1,000-yard running backs. Roderick Robinson II is a name to keep an eye on for Georgia, as he is likely the second head in the Georiga backfield this season.

At receiver, Georgia is losing three of its top-four receivers from last season, including All-American Brock Bowers, to the NFL. Domonic Lovett is the Bulldogs' top returning receiver, with 613 yards and two touchdowns from last season. Georgia hunted for receiver help in the transfer portal, landing Miami transfer Colbie Young and USC transfer Michael Jackson III. In theory, the Bulldogs' top four receivers could all be via the transfer portal, with Lovett and Rara Thomas transferring to Georgia from Missouri and Mississippi State, respectively.

Georgia did pick up highly coveted quarterback transfer Jaden Rashada in the transfer portal from Arizona State. Still, with Beck returning and likely a Heisman candidate in 2024, Rashada won't see much playing time barring blowouts or injury.

GEORGIA DEFENSE

In terms of defense, Georgia is always one of the highest in the country, and that was the case again in 2023. Georgia boasted a top-10 unit in college football, allowing 4.77 yards per play and 289.1 yards per game. Georgia and Alabama both thrive off having a veteran leader in the middle of their defense, and Georgia will have that benefit in 2024 with the second-leading tackler from 2023, Smael Mondon Jr, returning for his senior season. However, the Georgia secondary took a hit, with its top two safeties from 2023 entering the NFL in Tykee Smith and Javon Bullard. However, Georgia has a potential top-three safety in college football, with Malaki Starks returning for his junior and likely final season of college football. Starks was second on the team in pass breakups with seven last season and second on the team in picks with three. Additionally, CJ Allen, the second top linebacker for Georgia, is returning for his sophomore season.

One of the questions with Georgia is the secondary. With two of its top three safeties moving on, that leaves a void that is bigger than just one player. Starks is likely the best upperclassman safety in college football, but he is only one body when Georgia lost two. Who steps in for Georgia and replaces the other safety position? It's possible Georgia will play a true freshman opposite Starks, with highly-touted KJ Bolden signing with Georgia as a member of the 2024 recruiting class. Georgia's leading cornerback from last season, Kamari Lassiter, is also off to the NFL, joining Houston is an SEC-driven defense with Alabama's Wil Anderson Jr. and LSU's Derek Stingley.

Daylen Everette is the top returning cornerback for Georgia and is expected to be a high draft pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Everette was third on the team in pass breakups last season with five.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.