The Alabama football program is currently gearing up for an upcoming matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday evening. The Crimson Tide have had Georgia's number over the last decade-plus, but still come into the game viewed by most as slight underdogs considering their brutal loss to Florida State in the only ranked game they've played this year.
That loss brought a slew of criticism in head coach Kalen DeBoer's direction, criticism that he has tried to dispel in recent weeks, although wins against Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin can only get you so far.
Recently, Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard spoke on how DeBoer has changed his demeanor since that crushing loss to open up the season, describing the head coach as “more fired up,” per The Next Round on X, formerly Twitter.
“He knows what's at stake. Coach DeBoer is a very nice guy, and doesn't like to raise his voice, but he had to change that up real quick,” added Bernard.
A big test for Alabama football
The last time Alabama football lost to the Georgia Bulldogs was in the 2021-22 national championship game, in which the Tide were playing without wide receiver John Metchie III and saw fellow wideout Jameson Williams go down with injury early on in the game.
Since then, Alabama has defeated Georgia twice, first in the 2023 SEC Championship Game to controversially punch their ticket to the college football playoff, and then once again last year in Tuscaloosa, blowing a huge lead but ultimately hanging on to win thanks to a brilliant game from Ryan Williams.
Now, the Tide will be playing in Athens for the first time in a decade. The last time they played at Georgia, things went well, as the Crimson Tide bulldozed the Bulldogs despite entering the game as underdogs, coming off of a shocking home loss to Ole Miss.
Georgia enters the game at 3-0 but hasn't exactly looked dominant so far this year, needing overtime to defeat a talent-deficient Tennessee Volunteers squad two weeks ago.
In any case, the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide are slated to kick things off at 7:30 PM ET.
