Nick Saban reveals what he sees as the keys to Alabama at Georgia

For the first time since 2015, No. 17 Alabama travels to Athens tomorrow for a monstrous SEC showdown against No. 5 Georgia. The Crimson Tide head into the game with a 2-1 record, riding a two-game winning streak after dropping their season opener to Florida State. Georgia is 3-0 with a marquee road victory over No. 15 Tennessee before their bye week.

This game holds massive implications for both the SEC Championship Game (which either Alabama or Georgia has won 11 of the past 13 years) and the College Football Playoff.

A win for the Crimson Tide would put them right back in the thick of the CFP race, while a loss would make things extremely difficult. There is a little less pressure on the Bulldogs, but opening SEC play with back-to-back wins over Top 20 teams would be a major resume boost for Kirby Smart‘s team.

Ahead of the SEC clash, legendary head coach Nick Saban joined ‘The Pat McAfee Show‘ to reveal what he sees as the keys to winning this game. Over the course of Saban’s 17-year coaching stint at Alabama, he was 8-1 against Georgia (lone loss came in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game).

Saban tabs explosive plays and affecting the quarterback as major keys

“Well, first of all, I think the line of scrimmage is going to be very important,” Saban said. “Alabama has struggled, especially on the road, with some games last year and this year at Florida State. They had a hard time stopping the run. Kirby (Smart)’s gonna be stubborn about running the ball because he doesn’t want to put his quarterback in situations where they can tee off on him. But I also think that Ty Simpson has played really well for Alabama. They’ve made a lot of explosive plays since the Florida State game.”

“Who has the kind of pass rush to create situations where you can affect the quarterback? That’s gonna be huge in this game. Can Alabama run it and make explosive plays? Can Georgia affect the quarterback? But I think it’s going to be very similar for Georgia as well.”

Last season marked the first Alabama–Georgia matchup in the post-Saban era. Kalen DeBoer‘s Crimson Tide held off the ‘Dawgs 41-34 thanks to an unbelievable 75-yard passing touchdown from Jalen Milroe to Ryan Williams with just 2:18 remaining. The two programs went in opposite directions after that game, however, as Alabama is just 7-5 and Georgia is 11-2 in the 13 games since.

Kickoff for this weekend’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ABC.