No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama, both 5-0 and 3-0 in SEC play, meet Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT) on ABC. The game is going ahead under heavy weather. Hurricane Isaias made landfall late Friday near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 storm and became post-tropical early Saturday, but it is still spreading rain across the Southeast, Fox Weather reported. Kickoff remained on schedule Saturday morning while officials monitored the forecast; rain was expected to wind down across Alabama during the day, though lingering flash flooding and storm debris could complicate travel to Tuscaloosa. President Donald Trump, who had planned to attend, canceled the trip on Friday because of the storm, according to the Associated Press and WSB-TV.
Georgia arrives off a 38-14 win over Vanderbilt in which quarterback Gunner Stockton threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns, a game Kirby Smart called Stockton's most complete of the season, the AP reported. Stockton is 1-1 as a starter against Alabama, losing last year's regular-season meeting 24-21 before beating the Tide 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game. The Bulldogs lead the country at 51.4 points per game and have allowed 20 or fewer points in all five games, according to NBC Sports. They will be shorthanded at the skill positions: running back Chauncey Bowens and receivers Isiah Canion and Thomas Blackshear were listed out on Friday's availability report, 247Sports reported, though the AP said running back Nate Frazier is set to return.
Alabama is the only FBS team to score at least 45 points in every game this season, the AP noted, and it is coming off a 56-23 win over Mississippi State in which it never trailed. Sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell, in his first year as the starter, has completed 71.2% of his passes for 1,414 yards and 11 touchdowns while adding 184 rushing yards and four scores. Kalen DeBoer believes tight end Josh Ford could play despite surgery on a broken arm last Sunday; Ford and cornerback Jordan Edmonds were listed questionable on Friday. Alabama has won 10 of the last 12 meetings in the series, according to NBC Sports.
The betting market sees close to a coin flip. As of Tuesday, DraftKings made Alabama a 1.5-point favorite, with the Tide at -122 on the moneyline and Georgia at +102, NBC Sports reported. Kalshi traders land in nearly the same spot: Alabama's contract to win traded around 54 cents on Saturday afternoon, about a 54% chance, leaving Georgia near 46%. That is close to what the sportsbook price implies, since a -122 moneyline works out to roughly a 55% chance for the home team.
The stakes are familiar. Either Georgia or Alabama has won 11 of the past 12 SEC titles, and Saturday is the 76th meeting between the programs and the 13th with both ranked in the top 10, the AP reported. The winner moves to 6-0 and 4-0 in the conference, while the loser takes its first defeat of the season into the second half of October. The final is expected late Saturday night Eastern time, weather permitting.
