Happy Friday, everyone. Your previews and predictions for tomorrow’s SEC Championship Game:
Colin Gay: Ty Simpson has been incredibly inconsistent with his downfield passing ability. Facing Georgia, which
has one of the better run defenses in the country, Alabama may have to rely on Simpson’s arm to move the ball downfield. Can Simpson find that consistency, and accuracy, to keep the Crimson Tide moving forward?
Chase Goodbread: Can Alabama protect Ty Simpson in Atlanta the way it did in Athens? That’s of paramount importance, especially for a UA passing attack that’s become more sporadic and will be without TE Josh Cuevas. If the Bulldogs’ pass rush gets home, it could be a long day for UA.
Alabama vs Georgia score predictions
Colin Gay: No. 3 Georgia 24, No. 9 Alabama 17
Chase Goodbread: No. 9 Alabama 24, No. 3 Georgia 20
“Ty Simpson is not the world-beater that he was in the first half. The (first Alabama-Georgia game) was an example of that. He has been held, speaking of Simpson, under 100 passing yards in the second half of their last five SEC games. Well, that’s a problem, in particular when Georgia is such a great second-half team. It calls into question how big a game can Bama get in the first half? They got a big enough lead in the first matchup. Can they do that again in this SEC Championship Game?”
“I trust Georgia in a big game. Georgia is favored by only 2 1/2. I believe that’s because of the 1-7 record that Kirby has against Alabama, and yet this is the better team. Bama is one-dimensional.”
“I think that Georgia wins this game, 27-17, and they win the SEC championship.”
Hummer (Georgia -1.5): Kirby Smart has had a bit of an Alabama problem in his career. He does have one very big win on his resume (a national title matchup between the two sides) but is 1-7 overall against the Tide, including 0-2 against Kalen DeBoer. Georgia got off to a terrible start the first time these teams played this year, which is common for them this season, but I think Georgia is playing like the second or third-best team in the country right now. Georgia makes Alabama one-dimensional offensively by taking away the run and Gunner Stockton continues to roll. … Georgia 24, Alabama 21.
Crawford (Georgia -1.5): The Crimson Tide just haven’t had the look of a playoff team down the stretch with spotty play offensively. Give Alabama credit for gutting one out at Auburn in a hostile environment to stave off playoff elimination, but this one almost feels like another one of those scenarios. The SEC will demand playoff changes if the Crimson Tide go to Atlanta, lose and the league’s runner-up fails to secure the committee’s final at-large berth. This is not the same Alabama team that won at Georgia earlier this season. The Bulldogs have significantly improved defensively. … Georgia 27, Alabama 20.
Alabama pitched an almost perfect game back in September.
There weren’t problems with penalties, there weren’t any turnovers, and despite the struggles to close things down – they didn’t score in the second half – they managed to control everything.
They can’t start turning the ball over.
It was why they lost to Oklahoma, and the two giveaways almost cost them the South Carolina game. But Georgia doesn’t force enough takeaways, and they have to control the clock to pull this off.It’ll come out firing a bit more than normal, and it’ll take the fight to the Tide from the start, but this will be Simpson’s game.
The late heroics against Auburn will be a sort of breakthrough moment, even this late in the season, and Alabama’s hold on Georgia – winning six of the last seven – will continue with – what else? – another thriller.Alabama 26, Georgia 23
Georgia 23, Alabama 20 Alabama’s last two SEC games were a home loss to Oklahoma and a win at Auburn in which it needed Kalen DeBoer to make a gutsy fourth-down call to go ahead with under four minutes to play. The Crimson Tide haven’t run the ball well this season and are beat-up in the backfield. Georgia’s improved pass rush and the Bulldogs’ kicking game could swing this game.
After all of the drama that has been the 2025 college football season, Alabama and Georgia will face off yet again in Atlanta for the SEC title. Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s struggles against the place where he learned to be a head football coach,from the greatest to ever do it, are well documented. When the two teams met in Athens this September, Alabama had 14 points before Georgia’s offense got off the bus.
This Alabama team has struggled to put teams away, however, and Georgia very nearly completed the comeback. The guy who made the critical 4th down stop to seal the win for Alabama, LT Overton, is unavailable tomorrow with some sort of illness. Starting RB Jam Miller and TE Josh Cuevas are both listed as questionable, though Kalen DeBoer said earlier in the week that he didn’t expect Cuevas to play.
Georgia has a key injury as well in center Drew Bobo, and based on practice reports the Dawgs seemed to be experimenting at the position this week. The Georgia offense was putrid in the second half against Georgia Tech, and Bobo’s absence was a big part of that. How that unit is able to jell before a matchup with formidable duo Tim Keenan III and James Smith will be a key in the game.
These two teams are incredibly well matched and have plenty of familiarity with one another, much like a division rival in the NFL. Anything can happen tomorrow, and the only real surprise would be a blowout one way or another. Georgia will try to win the game on the ground, owing to the matchup advantage of Alabama’s secondary vs the UGA receivers, while Alabama will try to win it through the air. Like most close games, turnovers and red zone success with tell the tale.
I’m going to go with the homer pick and say that Alabama pulls out a slugfest. Let’s call it 23-20 Tide, and then see what the committee decides in terms of seeding.
Of course, that is merely my opinion. Share yours in the comments below.
Michael Casagrandre wrote that DeBoer is letting his personality shine through a bit more recently.
DeBoer, not traditionally the politicking type, arrived prepared at press opportunities for such inquiries.
By Thursday, you heard the closest DeBoer comes to spicy when asked if Alabama needs a win Saturday to make the 12-team playoff.
“I mean, it kind of blows my mind,” DeBoer said, “that’s the exact words I used before, that we’re really having this debate.”
In the nicest way possible.
“I don’t say that with any arrogance,” DeBoer said, like he accidentally touched the hot stove on which Alabama fans want him to dump gasoline, “because I understand there’s a lot of good football teams out there.”
DeBoer emphatically shut down any talk of him leaving for Penn State.
The list of candidates who passed on the opportunity to lead the Nittany Lions is long and seems to grow by the day. Eight coaches with purported links to the job instead signed contract extensions with their current schools or are in discussions to do so. DeBoer makes it nine to shut down interest in the position.
“We are extremely happy here,” DeBoer said. “Love the challenge, love the grind, love this place. There’s never been any link. There’s never been any conversation. There’s never been any interest either way. So I’m glad we could put that to bed right now.”
Kalen’s black hoodie has been in high demand, but those longing for one are sadly out of luck.
No one has the genuine article. Not anymore. We’re talking the matte black Nike Sideline Dri-FIT XL with the simple crimson rectangle stripe, block “ALABAMA” underlined by a centered crimson swoosh. The only person who does have one is DeBoer, and he has seven, but even he doesn’t know exactly where they are kept. That’s the purview of Kyle Smith, Alabama’s director of equipment, who bought up the entire inventory from the campus bookstore when he realized that was DeBoer’s preferred pullover, not long after the coach replaced Nick Saban ahead of the 2024 season.
You see, Nike had discontinued that particular pigskin parka. When Smith went on his shopping spree, that was his motivation, to supply his new boss’ demand. Now T-Town shoppers following in his wake are inspired by far more than a fear of losing out. Their fear is losing football games.
Last, Jahmyr Gibbs had himself yet another day on Thursday Night Football, and put himself in some pretty special company.
Gibbs gained 120 scrimmage yards and scored three times in Detroit’s 44-30 win over Dallas. Other than that, he didn’t do much.
That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.
Roll Tide.
