The No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0, 3-0 SEC) host the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (5-0, 3-0 SEC) in what Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer says will be the Crimson Tide's "toughest challenge by far up to this point" in the season. DeBoer is 2-1 in his career against Georgia and coach Kirby Smart with DeBoer's defeat coming in the last meeting.
When Georgia and Alabama played in the 2025 SEC championship, Georgia shut down Alabama's offense in a 28-7 win. DeBoer is looking to flip the script and beat the Bulldogs in the regular season for a third consecutive year.
DeBoer's opening statement on UGA
"Georgia, they’re gonna be our toughest challenge by far up to this point," DeBoer said in his weekly press conference. "Coach Smart and just everything he’s done there, building the program up,
and just doing an amazing job from just jumping on top of teams. You see them getting after people in the first half, and just sustaining the course, and sustaining it all game long.
"Obviously, this program wouldn’t be where it’s at with a lot of things he brought to it as well. So, nothing but great respect for coach Smart. And just we know, again, we’ve got to be at our best this Saturday, and looking forward to a great challenge."
On the 2026 Georgia team
“I guess some of it just goes back to, we’ve seen Gunner Stockton now a number of times, but he keeps getting better," DeBoer said. "There’s, I think, probably more familiarity too. And so you see there’s new faces maybe at a couple positions, there’s a lot of those same faces, and you see the little tweaks and little things that they continue to do to work around their personnel, and get their guys highlighted, the right guys in the right spots, especially on offense. And I think we do a lot of the same things.
"But just, this version, I mean, it’s just jumped all over people. I think that’s the biggest thing, is they come out of the gate swinging, and so, you gotta be ready for that. And we gotta be ready when the ball is kicked off.”
Georgia has won every game by 24 points or more this season and has the nation's leading scoring offense.
On playing a top-five opponent in Georgia
"We understand what Georgia is, but in the end we really try to keep it about us and our progress to move forward," DeBoer said. "But certainly we have a great challenge this week."
DeBoer is focused on Alabama being the best it can and continuing to improve each and every week.
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This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: What Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said about Georgia football
