In 2008, Georgia was ranked preseason No.1 and the Alabama Crimson Tide came to Athens as the underdogs. The end result was Alabama handing Georgia an embarrassing loss as the Tide then went on to run the SEC West and face Florida in the conference championship. This season Alabama will once again travel to Athens as the underdogs for a matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs with plenty on the line.
With one loss to their name, Alabama has all of the pressure facing Georgia. One more conference loss could knock the Tide out of playoff contention altogether. There is certainly concern of that happening. With Hurricane Joaquin hurling towards the East Coast, the weather report for Saturday is rain, rain and more rain. That could make for incredibly sloppy play from both teams. With both teams coming in with elite defensive units, the pressure will be on the quarterbacks to get the win.
The Tide has a lot to prove in this game, but more importantly the offense has a lot to prove. So far through, the Tide have struggled offensively to find their identity this season. Jake Coker has been prone to mistakes and turnovers. The Ole Miss game likely plays in the back of his mind. The team was able to beat Louisiana Monroe, but no one will say the team looked impressive. Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake are struggling to fine momentum while the wide receivers continue to suffer from dropped passes.
Alabama will be sticking with Coker at the quarterback position, confident that he will continue to get better with more playing time. The same can be said for the receivers. With Robert Foster out for the season, pressure is on Chris Black and Chris Sims to step up and prove why they were top high school recruits.
For the defense, all eyes are on Nick Chubb, the running back of the moment for UGA who is replacing Todd Gurley. Chubb is the main reason Georgia has outscored their first four opponents by an average of 32.0 points. The defense of the Tide must stop the run game and force Greyson Lambert to throw the ball more. The quarterback has a 76.5 completion percentage, but has only attempted 68 throws this season. That might have to change against Alabama.
