Georgia football's 2025 season once again features some high quality matchups. But there is one game in particular that most Georgia fans are extra excited for this season.
The matchup that UGA fans are most looking forward to is Georgia's fourth game of the season when Alabama comes to Athens for an early season showdown. However, it sounds like Kirby Smart is just as excited about this game as Georgia's fanbase is.
"It's a great atmosphere, just like we went into last year to play them, a night game on the road," Smart shared via 247sports.com. "It's what college football is about. This game is about playing great match-ups like that. It's what the fanbases want. It's what the nation wants. It's what college football needs. It's what college football and the SEC is about. Georgia and Alabama at home, at our place, I wish it could happen more often. Seems like we've played over there three or four times since they've come to see us and play. So it's a great opportunity, and I look forward to it."
Kirby Smart needs to show he is capable of beating Alabama again
Smart is entering his tenth season as Georgia's head coach this year. Smart's tenure so far has gone better than anyone could have hoped for as he has won three SEC Championships and two National Championships during his time in Athens.
The one thing however that Smart is yet to accomplish at Georgia is surpassing Alabama as the consensus best program in the SEC and country. Sure Georgia beat Alabama to win their first National Championship under Smart, but UGA has lost to the Tide the six other times they have played during Smart's tenure.
So not only will Georgia's game against Alabama likely be a top 10 matchup, this will give Smart a chance to finally overcome the biggest hurdle in his head coaching career.
While Georgia proved last season that they can still have a good year even with a loss to the Tide, losing to Alabama in the first two years post Nick Saban would be difficult to overcome. That is especially the case because Georgia gets to play Alabama at home this season.
So out of all the games on the schedule this season, Georgia's matchup with Alabama is by far the most important. A win not only would set UGA up to compete for an SEC Championship again this season, but it would eliminate any doubt that Smart is unable to beat Alabama.