Arguably the biggest game of the 2024 college football regular season is Saturday night as No. 2 Georgia visits No. 4 Alabama from the SEC with the Crimson Tide as home underdogs on the NCAAF odds for the first time since 2007.
Georgia vs Alabama Game Preview: 2024 NCAAF Expert Analysis
| Opening NCAAF Lines Subject to Change: Georgia -2 (total 48.5) Expert Prediction in Week 5: Alabama 24, Georgia 23 |
ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAMES OF THE YEAR 😤
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 21, 2024
See you next Saturday in Tuscaloosa for Georgia-Alabama 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XLJClt0UOT
Why Bet on Georgia?
No. 2 Georgia (3-0) might have been caught looking ahead to this game when the Dawgs nearly lost at Kentucky on Sept. 14, escaping 13-12. Down 9-3 in the third quarter of a game controlled by the defenses, the Bulldogs got a 30-yard Peyton Woodring field goal and a three-yard Branson Robinson touchdown to take the lead for good.
The Streak
The win is Georgia’s 42nd in a row during the regular season, the Bulldogs’ 28th straight in SEC regular-season games, and the program’s 15th straight over Kentucky. The Bulldogs extended their current FBS-leading streak of wins in an opponent’s home stadium to 16.
Carson Beck & Trevor Etienne
Georgia had just 63 yards of offense in the first half before finding some rhythm and hitting some big plays in the second to finish with 262. The quarterback finished the game 15 of 24 passing for 160 yards, while Etienne ran for 79 yards on 19 carries. Beck improved to 16-1 as the starting quarterback. Georgia’s defense held Kentucky to 284 yards, 3.9 yards per play, and forced a turnover that led to a Bulldog field goal. On the year, Georgia has allowed just 18 points on six field goals. e. The Bulldogs are the only FBS team that has not allowed a TD yet.
Kirby Smart
Georgia coach said he’s hopeful the Bulldogs will have a pair of injured defensive linemen back. Tackle Warren Brinson, who missed the past two games with an Achilles tendon injury, practiced last week and should be ready to go. Star end Mykel Williams, who hasn’t played since injuring his left ankle in a 34-3 victory against Clemson in the opener, was able to run last week and is trending in the right direction. Last season, Williams was voted second-team All-SEC by the league’s coaches after leading the Bulldogs with 4.5 sacks. He was named a freshman All-American in 2022.
“I’m hopeful,” Smart said of Williams during a news conference on Monday. “We’ll see. He didn’t do much last week.”
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. The QB Beck is 6-1 career vs. top-20 opponents with a 73.3% completion for 1,971 yards, 15 TDs, 2 INTs in those contests.
The Losses
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.
^Why Bet on Alabama?
Alabama (3-0) also has been off since Sept. 14 when the Tide impressively won 42-10 at Wisconsin. QB and Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe starred yet again, with the junior quarterback finishing 12-of-17 for 196 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Milroe was Alabama’s leading rusher as well, totaling 75 yards on 14 attempts, adding two rushing touchdowns to his stat line.
Jalen Milroe
Milroe has been responsible for 14 total touchdowns in just three games played this season, the most by any Southeastern Conference player in the last 20 years (Johnny Manziel in 2012). Milroe is also the first FBS player to contribute multiple rushing and passing touchdowns in three consecutive games since 2012 (Jordan Lynch and Manziel). Milroe is responsible for 84 of Alabama’s 147 points this season (57.1 percent). He is the only player in school history with multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games.
Stats
With 181 yards on the ground, Alabama has now rushed for 181-plus yards in all three games this season. As a team, the Tide is averaging 238.0 rushing yards per game. The Tide held the Badgers to 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) on third down conversions, with Alabama now limiting opponents to 8-of-49 (16.3 percent) on third down tries this season.
ESPN’s College Game Day
On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will be making their 59th appearance overall (37-21, .638) on ESPN’s College Game Day when the popular pregame show airs live from Tuscaloosa. 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.
Kalen DeBoer
In 14 previous matchups against ranked competition, new head coach 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, Kalen is 4-1 when matched up against top-10 teams.
Since 2008, the Tide are 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.
^Georgia vs Alabama NCAA Football Info
When: Saturday, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN radio
Georgia vs Alabama Series History
This will be the 74th meeting between the schools. Alabama leads the all-time series, 43-26-4, with the last meeting taking place on Dec. 2, 2023, in Atlanta with the Tide upsetting the unbeaten and No. 1 Dawgs 27-24 in the SEC title game. That kept Georgia from the College Football Playoff. 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.
^2023 SEC Championship Game
— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) May 3, 2024
Alabama 27
Georgia 24
Jalen Milroe: 13/23, 192 yds, 2 TDs
Isaiah Bond: 5 recs, 79 yds
Roydell Williams: 16 att, 64 yds, 1 TD
Jam Miller: 51 scrim. yds, 1 TD
0 turnovers.
pic.twitter.com/W4geEOXldr
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