Going into Saturday, Alabama had been the only team to defeat Georgia in the past three seasons, making the Bulldogs’ record in that span 45-2. With a new head coach in the picture for Alabama, it was unsure if that record would hold.
After a tough matchup against Georgia on Saturday, Kalen DeBoer proved that Alabama is still the dominant force in SEC football. The Crimson Tide moved to 4-0 on the season and put itself in a good position to march straight to the SEC championship game.
“When you face a really good football team, you know there’s going to be a strong push. That’s what I would expect from us if we were ever in that spot. We’re going to fight to the very end,” DeBoer said. “They’re going to bring their best shot to us, and that’s the SEC.”
When former head coach Nick Saban retired, there was uncertainty about whether a new coach would continue the legacy that Saban had built for Alabama football. DeBoer answered with a hot start to his first season as head coach.
The Alabama football team has proven that it takes a village to continue and grow the legacy.
When quarterback Jalen Milroe talked about the final defensive drive of the night, he spoke about that need for collective effort.
“I thought it was awesome to see the support system of our fans, number one. Number two, to see all the guys on our football team support the defense. Number three, the execution that they put on display for that drive,” Milroe said.
With the last three SEC championship titles going back and forth, Alabama winning in 2021 and 2023 and Georgia winning in 2022, Saban’s retirement seemed the perfect moment for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart to step in and make the Bulldogs the new SEC powerhouse.
However, Smart didn’t appear to have what it takes to defeat the Crimson Tide.
Alabama football always seems to have some trick up its sleeve that sweeps Georgia off its feet, and this time it was the freshman duo of wide receiver Ryan Williams and defensive back Zabien Brown.
Williams scored one touchdown, brought in six catches and ran for a total of 177 yards while also scoring the game-winning touchdown. When Georgia was about to even the score on its final drive, Brown came through and caught an interception in the endzone to save the game.
“It says a lot. It says mentally that they’re way ahead of their time. They’ve played enough snaps now that there’s a belief not only that they have in themselves but [that we have in them],” DeBoer said. “They earned that stripe down the middle of their helmets today, that’s for sure.”
Although the team struggled throughout the second half, Williams emphasized having trust in each other and their new head coach would be what gave the edge to Alabama.
“We just had to do what we had to do to win the game,” Williams said. “At the end of the day it’s football. He [DeBoer] believes in us, so we just take that and do what we have to do.”
With No. 2 Texas now in the SEC, Alabama could reasonably expect to play Texas or Georgia in the SEC championship game if the Crimson Tide gets there.
“It’s what we do from here that matters, building on this,” Milroe said. “What we’re seeing now is all the work we put in this offseason, the way the coaches believed in us and then some of the younger guys we brought in. Just gotta keep growing, all of us.”
