I've Watched Every Snap Alabama has Taken This Year - Here is What is Coming at Georgia Football

ATHENS - The No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs take the road this coming weekend to face off against the No. 6-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.

I watched every single play Alabama has been a part of this season. The Tide have played five teams: East Carolina, Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina and Mississippi State. Kalen DeBoer’s squad has gotten better over the course of the season.

Kirby Smart and the Dawgs have lost the previous two regular-season matchups against Alabama before handling the Tide in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship last December. Georgia lost a tight one when it hosted Alabama in the 2025 regular season. The 2024 contest in Tuscaloosa between these two juggernauts produced one of the best and most dramatic college football games of this decade.

Covering Georgia, I have been at all five games and now have seen all five games Alabama has put on film. Here is what is coming at Georgia this weekend:

Offense

Keelon Russell

DeBoer named redshirt freshman Keelon Russell as the starting quarterback ahead of the season. In just five games, he is already one of the best and most dynamic quarterbacks in the entire country, and he is clearly getting more comfortable as time goes on.

In the opening game against East Carolina, Russell showed that he was not afraid to sling it. Calling him “trigger happy” is probably pushing it, but he himself will push the ball downfield without hesitation. He didn’t waste any time getting outside the pocket to make plays.

He logged the most carries in a single game against the Pirates with 13. He turned those into 86 yards and a score with a long run of 23 yards. His running production stems from a combination of design runs and scrambling – he is dangerous in both aspects. The speed he possesses is not common at the quarterback position and is a more slippery athlete than Jalen Milroe was, although Milroe was the more physical runner.

His second game served as both his first road and SEC start in a matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats. This is the game where he struggled the most. He threw a pick-six inside of Alabama’s own five-yard-line early in the game and added a lost fumble in the first quarter. He threw another interception later in the first half. Those are his only turnovers on the season.

Alabama’s game in Lexington is similar to Georgia’s against Oklahoma: There wasn’t a rhythm in the passing games, the quarterbacks turned the ball over and the defenses anchored the wins. Alabama just had to do it in the second half as opposed to Georgia doing it in the first.

Against Florida State, he anchored an offense that amassed over 550 yards. He completed 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 320 yards and three touchdowns while adding a score with his legs. It was against the Seminoles where he was first propelled to be the reason why Alabama won a game. We’ll get to the Tide’s defensive struggles in this one later on.

Russell’s accuracy noticeably started improving and he didn’t shy away from what was a shootout at one point. He can throw on the run, off his back foot or in the pocket. In the red zone, the threat of his legs and Alabama’s running backs have allowed them to run a lot of run-pass options (RPO). His quick release and accuracy has given offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb a new weapon in the RPO game, as Russell has the ability to fire balls over the middle of a condensed line of scrimmage.

The young signal caller also flashed the ability to take a run for a long game against the Seminoles. He housed a 57-yard run on a pass play where he recognized the best option was him to take off between the tackles. His slippery nature allowed him to squeeze between the defense and outrun the secondary to the end zone.

He was even better against South Carolina. He completed 21 of 27 attempts for 365 yards and four touchdowns. He displayed even more consistency in his downfield passing and started limiting putting the ball into harm’s way. Alabama looked like Alabama as he spearheaded them to jump out to a 35-3 lead in the second quarter.

Last week, Russell and the Tide entered their most hyped up matchup of the year so far. Mississippi State won two SEC games and their quarterback Kamario Taylor got more attention than Russell. Alabama made the short road trip for a duel of dual-threat quarterbacks.

Russell was helped out by his defense, but he outdid Taylor on the road. He didn’t turn the ball over. He finished with a 73% completion rate and he scored four total touchdowns for the third straight game. Like Stockton, Russell’s legs were used in the red zone, and he made Bulldog defenders look silly the way the Rabun County product has time after time.

Again, he improved in his downfield accuracy. He threw to a wide variety of routes on just 22 attempts against Mississippi State. Perhaps there were none better than this back-shoulder strike down the seam on 3rd and 19.

NFL scouts are drooling after this 3rd and 19 throw from Keelon Russell pic.twitter.com/XOZU09oQn2
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 3, 2026

Over the course of five games, Russell has gotten better and better and he has shown the capability to do virtually anything at the quarterback position. He has lived up to his five-star billing and is certainly on pace to be Alabama’s best quarterback since Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young.

Ty Simpson was really good, but Russell has changed the math for Alabama’s offense. He has all the tools to make people forget that Georgia’s defensive starters have been arguably the most impressive all season.

Russell is also working with a little more consistency at wide receiver than Simpson was last year. Alabama is best when they have two trustworthy stars at wide receiver. That seems to be the case as Ryan Coleman-Williams has put the gloves back on and is improving his drop issues. Lotzeir Brooks has emerged as an explosive downfield weapon for Alabama.

Running Game

Alabama’s running game was a huge issue for the Crimson Tide a year ago. It was even an issue in the two matchups against Georgia. The Dawgs outrushed them in Athens despite losing the matchup, and Georgia held Alabama to -2 rushing yards collectively in the SEC Championship win.

In part because of Russell’s ability to be a danger on the ground, the Tide can run the football again. Another part is Grubb getting a second year with this Alabama offense. The other part is that the stable of backs are better as a group than who they were working with a year ago.

Daniel Hill is Alabama’s leading rusher with 247 yards and four touchdowns. He has the most carries on the season with 51 and he is the hammer. At 6’1” and 234 pounds, he is the best between-the-tackles runner that the Tide have and he is probably their best goal-line threat.

The two additions DeBoer made to his running back room may be the biggest reason Alabama’s run game has rivaled Georgia’s this year in terms of production. Alabama has two true freshmen running backs who have made plays and have been trusted to take on carries.

Three star recruit Trae’Shawn Brown is perhaps the biggest surprise. He is second behind Hill with 211 yards and is leading the team with five touchdowns on the ground. With Hill fumbling the ball twice against Mississippi State, Brown led the way with 14 carries for 66 yards and two scores. He has been dynamic.

None of the backs have been as explosive as five-star true freshman EJ Crowell. He is averaging 7.8 yards per carry and has the longest run by any of Alabama’s running backs. Crowell has been a little banged up but is back in the fold for the Tide.

The ground game has been more dangerous because the personnel is better. That is the simplest way to put it. Alabama only ran for 1,562 yards across 15 games last year. The Tide have already ran for 932 yards in just five games this season. Imagine if Simpson had this run game.

Defense

Alabama’s defense hasn’t been the stonewall’s that Georgia’s starters largely have been this season, but the Crimson Tide have done a couple of things better on that side of the ball than the Dawgs.

What Alabama’s defense has done best this year is force turnovers, and it has led to some easy offense for Russell and company. The Tide forced three turnovers in each of the last three games. They also forced two against Kentucky and one against East Carolina.

For as talented as Alabama's secondary is, they are gettable. Zabien Brown, Dijon Lee Jr. and Keon Sabb are future NFL players and some of the most recognizable defensive back names in the sport. They and the rest of the Alabama secondary have allowed plenty of explosive plays in the passing game this season.

The Florida State game was the worst showing of that group. Four different wide receivers hauled in a catch for 35 or more yards and there were plenty of other explosive passing plays made by the Seminoles.

East Carolina was able to take advantage of busted coverage and win some one-on-ones early in the game, which led to a touchdown. Before the game got out of hand, Taylor was slinging the rock against the Alabama secondary. Still, that group scored a touchdown by way of a pick-six.

Alabama has largely stopped the run pretty well, ranking towards the top of the conference in run definition by allowing fewer than 100 yards per game. South Carolina broke through the Crimson Tide front for over 200 yards. The Gamecocks emphasize running the football at times due to a pretty dysfunctional passing offense, so take what you will from that.

In the front seven, the names to know are linebacker Luke Metz, lineman Devan Thompkins and edge rusher Yhonzae Pierre. Metz leads the team in tackles and has an interception that he returned for a score. Thompkins leads the team with three sacks. Pierre is the most gifted pass rusher that Alabama has from a talent perspective and is one of the only returning starters in Alabama’s front seven.

They certainly have “guys,” and have largely been more disciplined in tackling, but this group is not as good as Georgia’s.

Initial Thoughts

Don’t be surprised if Georgia loses in Tuscaloosa. That really never would shock anyone because Georgia tends to lose to Alabama, but the Tide have gone under the radar this season for their standard and for how well they have played this season.

The biggest challenge for the Dawgs will be dealing with the combination of Russell’s dynamism and the electricity at wide receiver between Coleman-Williams and Brooks. Every time Georgia has lost to Alabama, their star wideouts are. Their stars are eating this year and they have a new shiny Lamborghini at quarterback.

I haven’t seen a better defense than the one that Georgia has. Vanderbilt had the most success against the Dawgs and Georgia made halftime adjustments to shut out the Commodores in the second half. Georgia has responded to the tiniest bit of adversity it faced.

Gunner Stockton is coming off of his best game of the season. Georgia is also explosive on offense and has more options than the Tide.

The biggest key for Georgia will probably be getting to Russell. He hasn’t dealt with a front as talented as Georgia’s. Limiting his ability to get outside of the pocket and make throws might have to be object No. 1. He is just as good as anybody in college football outside of the pocket.

This is shaping up to be another classic. Georgia is just a 1.5-point favorite. It could move to a pick ‘em.

Georgia hasn't seen anything like Alabama's offense, but Alabama hasn't seen anything like Georgia's defense. It will be great on great in Tuscaloosa in what will be a wild environment and possibly a very rainy one.

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