Georgia and Alabama split last season's series, and this Friday night rematch in Bryant-Denny is the first chance either side gets to settle the score.
Bush’s Picks
UGAALA
UGAALA
OverUnder
Best BetGeorgia
Georgia brings the more settled program into this one — a returning starter with a full season of reps, a defensive front that's been dominant for years, and the resume of a defending SEC champ. Alabama still doesn't know who's throwing the ball, and that uncertainty is a real outright-win risk in a game this early in the season. Back the Bulldogs to win, even on the road.
−Alabama beat them last season, at Georgia's place
−Two straight CFP quarterfinal exits despite the talent
Alabama
+Beat Georgia in last year's regular-season meeting
+Elite secondary duo in Brown and Hubbard
+Hosting a marquee rivalry game at Bryant-Denny
−Unsettled QB battle between Mack and Russell
−Offensive line unproven, run game struggled in 2025
−Got blown out 28-7 by Georgia in the SEC title game
Gunner Stockton is the biggest reason Georgia enters this one with the calmer setup. He's back for a second full season as the starter after throwing for just under 3,000 yards and 24 touchdowns against only 5 interceptions a year ago, and Kirby Smart doesn't have a quarterback competition to sort out. Alabama does. Ty Simpson is gone, and Kalen DeBoer is still working through a battle between senior Austin Mack and sophomore Keelon Russell that's expected to drag into fall camp.
Whoever wins that job walks into a tough opening test behind an offensive line that's still unproven and a running game that struggled to find its footing last season. Georgia, meanwhile, gets its top backfield weapon in Nate Frazier back, plus a stalwart like tackle Earnest Greene protecting Stockton up front. That kind of continuity matters, especially with the SEC race — and Alabama's margin for error — already a talking point months out.
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UGA Georgia
ALA Alabama
The last time these two shared a field, Georgia throttled Alabama 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game, a rout that ended the Tide's hold on the rivalry and sent the Bulldogs into the Playoff as a No. 3 seed. But Bama has the head-to-head receipt that actually matters for this specific rematch: a 24-21 win at Georgia back in September, the kind of result that keeps this from being a foregone conclusion no matter how lopsided things looked in Atlanta.
Georgia Bulldogs
Oct 2?vs Vanderbilt—
Sep 25?vs Oklahoma—
Sep 19?@ Arkansas—
Sep 12?vs Western Kentucky—
Sep 5?vs Tennessee State—
Alabama Crimson Tide
Oct 2?@ Mississippi State—
Sep 25?vs South Carolina—
Sep 19?vs Florida State—
Sep 12?@ Kentucky—
Sep 5?vs East Carolina—
Recent form.
Both coaches walk in with something to prove. Smart has won two national titles and four SEC crowns at Georgia, but the Bulldogs have now bowed out in the Playoff quarterfinals two years running — a gap between conference dominance and finishing the job that Alabama would love to expose. DeBoer, entering year three, is hearing hot-seat noise after a defense-driven Alabama roster came up empty against Georgia twice in the final six weeks of last season.
Georgia Bulldogs
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Alabama Crimson Tide
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Alabama's counter is its secondary. Zabien Brown and Bray Hubbard headline a defensive backfield DeBoer has built to survive exactly this kind of matchup, and if that group plays up to its billing in Bryant-Denny, this stays the low-scoring, field-position fight both programs are built for on Friday, October 9.
