One of college football’s oldest rivalries will lack a familiar face on the sideline, but that won’t diminish the anticipation for the meeting of perennial powers.
No. 2 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) travels to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 4 Alabama (3-0, 0-0) on Saturday as the SEC rivals match up for the 74th time.
For the first time since the 2003 meeting, the Crimson Tide will be without Nick Saban, one of the greatest coaches in college football history. A new face in the series’ storied history will emerge as first-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer leads the Crimson Tide into their first conference game of 2024.
In Saban’s final victory before his retirement, Alabama handed Georgia its last loss, 27-24 in last year’s SEC Championship Game. DeBoer’s new regime looks to forge its own path.
“This is a new team, this is a new season,” DeBoer said. “That’s what I always make sure we’re emphasizing. This is the 2024 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, but there are certainly learning moments that you have when you’ve been through the experiences. Obviously, that’s not me. That’s our players.”
Through three games, DeBoer’s Crimson Tide have steamrolled Western Kentucky, South Florida and Wisconsin by a combined score of 147-26. Facing its first national power of the season, Alabama is the betting underdog at home for the first time since 2007.
“What we get to do is let any of the naysayers know what we’re capable of,” DeBoer said. “That’s no one’s fault, but it is a tribute to what people see in Georgia and how quality their football team is, and to their credit, that’s exactly what they are.”
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe looks to extend his excellent start to the season. In his second year as the starter, he has an 8-0 touchdown-interception ratio through the air, adding 156 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Milroe has the distinction of being the last quarterback to beat Georgia, which is riding a 42-game regular-season win streak.
“(Jalen) has made a considerable jump as a natural pocket passer,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “You see him make more throws that are rhythm throws, on time throws, RPO throws. You can tell he’s becoming much more comfortable.”
As for Smart, Saturday marks his first meeting against the Saban-less Crimson Tide. Smart, who served under Saban as Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2008-15 and is in his ninth season at Georgia, isn’t giving much mind to nostalgia.
“I don’t expect it to be strange,” Smart said of not facing his former boss. “That’s just the normal course of progression. … You really have to focus on the players. Focus on what they have to do, and what we have to do to execute.”
After beating then-No. 14 Clemson and Tennessee Tech by a combined 82-6, Georgia won a surprising 14-13 struggle at Kentucky on Sept. 14.
In Georgia’s first trip to Tuscaloosa since a 41-24 loss on Oct. 17, 2020, Smart knows the impact the game will have on the future of his program.
“I think any time you get to play against a really good team that’s a powerhouse in college football, it’s a challenge,” Smart said. “I look at it as a hell of an opportunity. I really look at it as a hell of an opportunity for our kids and our program on the national stage. It’s the reason kids want to come to Georgia, they say, ‘I want to play in games like that.’ That’s what we’ve built our program on, playing tough opponents.”
Alabama, which has won eight of the last nine matchups, leads the all-time series 43-26-4.
