Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide to Sanford Stadium on Saturday. The night game environment will be bonkers, and it is the first time Smart has gotten to play Alabama at home.
Second-year coach Kalen DeBoer brings a 2-1 squad to Athens, and it is no secret what he will try to do to get out of Athens with a win. He's going to unleash his formidable duo of wide receivers to test the Bulldogs secondary, especially with the Tide struggling to run the ball thus far.
WRs Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard will test the Georgia secondary
The UGA secondary has clearly been the achilles heel of the defense through the first three games. Joey Aguilar and Tennessee lit up the UGA defensive backs to the tune of 371 yards passing and four touchdowns to take the game to overtime before Georgia prevailed 44-41.
Alabama QB Ty Simpson has steadily improved since losing to Florida State on the road to open the season. He is developing better chemistry with electric playmaking wide receivers Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard.
Both Williams and Bernard possess elite body control, speed, and ball-tracking skills that will require the Georgia defensive backs to be a lot better than they have been to date.
Daylen Everette and Ellis Robinson IV have to step up on Saturday
Daylen Everette has been solid manning up on the right side of the UGA defense, but the other side has been overmatched at times even as the Bulldogs have gotten to 3-0.
Redshirt freshman Ellis Robinson IV is an extremely talented former five-star recruit who has been forced into action opposite Everette to begin 2025. He has all the physical tools, but desperately needs more reps to figure out the best way to use his skills to blanket opposing wideouts. Hopes are high for Robinson, but the learning curve coming to the Classic City on Saturday is steep.
Daniel Harris and safety K.J Bolden have to maintain their assignments
Similarly, Daniel Harris has had issues with defending the deep ball. Georgia fans know better than to doubt Smart's defensive back talent evaluation, so it goes without saying that he has been taking the majority of the two-week prep time to coach up his talented but young defenders.
Safety K.J. Bolden and Star Joenel Aguero will have to maintain seam coverage and allow Robinson and Harris to squeeze the Alabama receivers to the sidelines as an extra defender. Don't be surprised to see Smart employ a heavy dose of two-deep safeties along with man and zone coverage to help out his young corners and confuse Simpson.
Hopefully the secondary will be a quick study as they will have their hands full with Williams and Bernard Saturday night.