GEORGIA NOTES:
#2/#1 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. #4/4 Alabama (3-0, 0-0 SEC) Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium (101,821) Sept. 28, 2024, 7:30 PM ET – ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Holly Rowe) UGA Head Coach: Kirby Smart (97-16, 9th year); UA: Kalen DeBoer (107-12, 10th year) National Radio: Compass Media Network (Gregg Daniels, Dave Archer) Local Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Learfield): Scott Howard (PxP), Eric Zeier (Analyst), D.J. Shockley (Sideline); Satellite Radio: SiriusXM (82) & on the SiriusXM App SEC Network Re-Air: TBA; Series History: UA leads 43-26-4 First Meeting: 1895 in Columbus, UGA won 30-6; Last: 2023 in Atlanta (SECCG), UA won 27-24 The Standard Is The Standard The more things change the more they stay the same. The Bulldogs are the only FBS team that has not allowed a TD this season. The opponents have six field goals on the year against the Bulldogs. In 2024, the Bulldogs limited 14th-ranked Clemson to three points, Tenn. Tech kicked a field goal on the final play of the game and UK made four field goals. Georgia’s leading tackler is sophomore LB CJ Allen with 15 while Smael Mondon Jr., Daylen Everette, and Raylen Wilson are next with 12 apiece. Georgia has eight sacks led by Wilson and Jalon Walker with 1.5 while junior Malaki Starks has an interception and senior Dan Jackson and sophomore Damon Wilson II have a fumble recovery. Seven of 11 starters return from the 2023 defense that ranked fifth nationally in Scoring Defense (15.6 ppg) and led the nation in 3rd Down Conversion (25.7%). Up next, second-ranked Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) battles fourth-ranked Alabama (3-0, 0-0 SEC). The teams last met in the 2023 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta with UA posting a 27-24 decision. Georgia saw its 29-game winning streak end and a bid to win its third straight national championship. Alabama is sixth nationally in Scoring Offense (49.0 ppg) and sixth in Scoring Defense (8.67 ppg). Aiming To Be Elite On All Fronts Again The Bulldogs opened the 2024 season ranked No. 1 in the AP and US LBM Coaches poll for the third time in school history (2008, 2023). Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) dropped to No. 2 in the AP poll after its 13-12 road win over Kentucky on Sept. 14 and remain at No. 2 this week. The Bulldogs have the longest active streak of being ranked in the AP top 10 (54 straight polls). The Bulldogs will face five teams that were preseason ranked in the top 15 including three of those on the road in Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss plus a fourth at a neutral site (Clemson in Atlanta) while Tennessee visits Athens too. Did You Know? Georgia is the only team to have finished in the top seven of the final AP poll in each of the past seven seasons. The last team to start and finish a season at No. 1 was Alabama in 2017. Did You Know, Part II? Head coach Kirby Smart is unbeaten against all active head coaches over the past five years. Georgia is 65-6 in that span. The coaches no longer active who have wins over Georgia during this stretch: Nick Saban (3) along with Will Muschamp, Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen. Did You Know, Part III? The Bulldogs were the only FBS team to finish the 2023 season nationally ranked in the top five in both Scoring Offense (40.1 ppg/5th) and Scoring Defense (15.6 ppg/5th). Also, the Bulldogs were the first FBS team since 2020 to not allow a punt return all season. In the Smart era, the Georgia defense has ended the year ranked in the top five nationally in Scoring Defense five times including leading the nation twice (2019 at 12.6 ppg & 202Beck By Popular Demand Senior Carson Beck is 16-1 in his career as the starting quarterback (6-1 against top 20 teams), the loss coming to then No. 8 (CFP) Alabama 27-24 in the 2023 SEC Championship Game. Beck opened the 2024 season with a 34-3 win over No. 14 Clemson in Atlanta, going 23-for-33 for 278 yards and two TDs to earn SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors. He followed that with a school record-tying five TD passes in a 48-3 rout of Tennessee Tech and a 13-12 road win at UK. The Georgia offense is bolstered by four starting linemen returning in LT Earnest Greene III, LG Dylan Fairchild, RG Tate Ratledge, and RT Xavier Truss. However, Ratledge is sidelined after an ankle injury in the UK game. The skill players share the load as Beck utilizes multiple options in the backfield, at wideout and tight end. A Georgia single-game record-tying 15 Bulldogs caught a pass in the win over the Golden Eagles. SMART Football: The Streaks *Georgia is 49-2 in the last 51 games with a school record streak of 42 consecutive regular season victories. *Georgia has an SEC and school record streak of 28 consecutive SEC regular season wins. *Georgia has a 16-game winning streak in an opponent’s home stadium, which leads in FBS. The streak began in 2020 with a 14-3 win over Kentucky. Georgia last fell at No. 2 Alabama in 2020. *The 2024 Senior Class is 45-2 (39-0 in the regular season). The 2023 Senior Class has the school record at 50-4 with two national titles, an SEC crown plus 6-0 in bowl/CFP games. *Georgia is riding a school-record 26-game home winning streak, which leads in FBS. *Georgia owns the nation’s longest active bowl streak at 27 seasons and has won its last seven matchups.
The Elephant In The Room Alabama is the last team to beat Georgia (2023 SEC Championship Game), and the last team to register a regular season home win over the Bulldogs when they did it in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 17, 2020. Georgia’s last regular season loss came on Nov. 7, 2020, to Florida in Jacksonville. Since then, the Bulldogs have won 42 in a row during the regular season. UA leads the all-time series over Georgia 43-26-4. Georgia’s last win over the Crimson Tide came on Jan. 10, 2022, by a score of 33-18 and delivered the Bulldogs their first national championship since 1980. It capped a 14-1 season. Then, Georgia became the first team in the CFP era to repeat as champions, going 15-0 in 2022. The Bulldogs went 12-0 in 2023 before falling to the Tide. Georgia hasn’t played host to Alabama since 2015, and on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Bulldogs return to Tuscaloosa for the second time since 2020. The Crimson Tide will visit Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in 2025. The last three meetings with the Crimson Tide came in the postseason, two in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta and one in the CFP National Championship in Indianapolis. 2021 SEC CG: #4 UA def. #1 UGA 41-24 2022 CFP Title: #3 UGA def. #1 UA 33-18 2023 SEC CG: #8 UA def. #1 UGA 27-24.
ALABAMA NOTES:
INSIDE THE SERIES Overall: 74th Meeting (Alabama leads, 43-26-4) In Tuscaloosa: Alabama leads, 8-2 Current Streak: Alabama, Won 1 Last Meeting: Dec. 2, 2023 – Atlanta (W, 27-24) Series Notes: Alabama and Georgia will square off for the 74th time in history when the two teams meet on Saturday night at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama leads the all-time series, 43-26-4, with the last meeting taking place on Dec. 2, 2023, in Atlanta, Ga. The Tide clinched its 30th SEC Championship following its 27-24 win last season inside MercedesBenz Stadium. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer has never faced the Bulldogs during his head coaching career. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is 1-5 all-time against the Crimson Tide and is 0-1 in his only other appearance in Tuscaloosa.
ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY: The Crimson Tide will be making its 59th appearance overall (37-21, .638) on ESPN’s College GameDay when the popular pregame show airs live from Tuscaloosa this Saturday. Including Saturday’s appearance prior to the matchup with Georgia, Alabama is tied with Ohio State for the most appearances on GameDay by any one program in the show’s history. The Crimson Tide’s 37 wins entering Saturday stand as the second-most when appearing on the show, trailing only the 40 victories by the Buckeyes.
DEBOER AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS: In 14 previous matchups against ranked competition, Kalen DeBoer is 12-2. While at Fresno State, DeBoer’s Bulldogs were defeated at No. 11 Oregon on Sept. 4, 2021, marking his first game against a top-25 foe as an FBS head coach. Between stops at both Fresno State and Washington, DeBoer-led teams proceeded to win 12 straight contests against ranked opponents, including six ranked victories in 2023. DeBoer’s streak of 12 consecutive wins over ranked programs was snapped following Washington’s 34-13 loss to top-ranked Michigan in last season’s CFP National Championship. Of note, DeBoer is 4-1 when matched up against top-10 teams. THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF SABAN FIELD AT BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM: Alabama boasts the best all-time home winning percentage in the FBS with an .841 (299-55-3) mark at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium since its opening in 1929. Boise State’s Albertsons Stadium (287-63), which opened in 1970, is the next closest in second at .820.
SEC HOME OPENERS: Since 2008, the Tide is 15-1 (.938) in SEC home openers. Alabama has outscored its league opponents 635-240 (39.7-15.0 ppg) in those games. The Tide’s lone loss in an SEC home opener since 2008 came against Ole Miss on Sept. 19, 2015, by a score of 43-37. AGAINST THE TOP 10: Alabama owns an 85-80-1 (.515) all-time record against teams ranked in the top-10 of the Associated Press Poll. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Crimson Tide has posted a 36-14 (.720) overall record against top-10 teams, including a 21-8 (.724) mark versus the top 10 since the inception of the College Football Playoff. BEATING THE BEST: The Crimson Tide is 80-22 (.784) against the Associated Press Top 25 since the start of 2008. That record includes a 4-2 mark in 2023 with wins against then-No. 15 Ole Miss on Sept. 23, thenNo. 17 Tennessee on Oct. 21, then-No. 13 LSU on Nov. 4 and finally against then-No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 2. ALABAMA IN THE AP POLL: Alabama’s No. 4 ranking in the Week 5 edition of the Associated Press Poll marked the 266th consecutive week that the Crimson Tide has appeared in the poll. That streak is the longest active streak in college football. The 266 weeks more than doubles second-place Georgia with the Bulldogs appearing in the poll for 119 consecutive weeks. Alabama’s 266 straight weeks tops the Crimson Tide’s previous program-long streak of 105 consecutive weeks under head coach Gene Stallings in the mid-1990s. ALABAMA IN THE AP SINCE 2008: Alabama began the 2008 season at No. 24 in the Associated Press Preseason Poll. The Crimson Tide opened the year with a dominant 34-10 win over then-No. 9 Clemson in Atlanta, and since that win over the Tigers, UA has not been ranked lower than No. 17 in 265 polls that have followed. According to the College Poll Archive, the Tide is the only team to be represented on all 266 editions of the poll from the start of the 2008 season to the current week. The next closest team is Ohio State with 251 appearances followed by Oklahoma at 242. Alabama has spent 95.0 percent of the 17-plus years ranked in the top 10. A whopping 82.1 percent of that time Alabama has been ranked in the top five. The Crimson Tide has also been ranked No. 1 a total of 109 times since 2008. Only 14 other teams have earned the No. 1 ranking over that time, with the second-most appearances coming from Georgia at 40 and Clemson in third at 23.
PILING UP THE POINTS: Jalen Milroe has accounted for 14 total touchdowns in only three games of action this season, including eight passing and six rushing. His 14 scores have led to 84 points, tied for the fifth-most in the nation. Milroe’s six rushing scores are tied for second-most by any quarterback in Division I while his eight passing touchdowns are tied for the seventh-most in the country. Milroe is the first SEC player since Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) in 2012 to post 14 touchdowns through three games, and joins Manziel and Jordan Lynch (Northern Illinois) as the first FBS players since 2012 to contribute multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games.
DEFENSIVE NOTES KEENAN III NAMED SEC DL OF THE WEEK: Alabama’s Tim Keenan III was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week on Sept. 9 following his standout performance against USF. Keenan III managed personal bests in sacks (1.5), tackles for loss (2.5) and total tackles (9), while also contributing one quarterback hurry. KEON, KEEPING ON: Keon Sabb was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week and the Reese’s Senior Bowl Defensive Player of the Week following Alabama’s season opener against Western Kentucky on Aug. 31. Sabb earned the start at safety and played a key role in helping UA shut out the Hilltoppers, recording two tackles and a pair of interceptions with a combined 87 yards on his returns. ON QUE: Linebacker Que Robinson recorded his third sack of the season in Alabama’s 42-10 win over Wisconsin on Sept. 14. Robinson has recorded one sack in all three games this season. THE AIR IS RARE: Alabama’s defense has surrendered just 347 yards passing through its first three matchups. The Tide’s 115.7 yards per game allowed through the air is the the seventh-best figure in the country. Alabama is also surrendering just 6.2 yards per completion, the lowest mark in all of Division I. THE BUCK STOPS HERE: Through three games, the Crimson Tide defense has allowed just eight third-down conversions in 49 attempts (16.3 percent), the best mark in the FBS. NO CROSSING ZONE: The Alabama defense is currently surrendering just 8.7 points per game, the sixth-best mark in Division I. TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS: Alabama has forced at least one turnover in 115 of the last 130 contests (dating back to the start of the 2015 season). During the current run, Alabama has forced 199 turnovers (127 interceptions, 72 fumbles) and returned 42 of those miscues for touchdowns. SHUTOUTS SINCE 2007: Since 2007, Alabama has recorded 27 shutouts, including 12 in Southeastern Conference play. With its 63-0 win over Western Kentucky on Aug. 31, the Crimson Tide defense has 12 more shutouts than its nearest competitor over that span. Ranking second in shutouts during that time is Ohio State with 15.