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Alabama Looks Every Bit Like Georgia’s Biggest Test Yet

Georgia’s next assignment is in Tuscaloosa, where Alabama is making the assignment look about as comfortable as a dentist’s chair.

The No. 7 Crimson Tide rolled past previously unbeaten No. 16 Mississippi State 56-23 Saturday in Starkville, improving to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. That sets up Georgia’s visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday for a 7:30 PM ET kickoff on ABC, the Bulldogs’ first trip there since 2024.

Alabama’s five wins are not simply a matter of stacking up results. The Crimson Tide has started to handle respectable opponents with a bit more authority each week.

Mississippi State arrived at Saturday’s game unbeaten, with a 4-0 record and a productive offense led by Kamario Taylor. Alabama, however, made the matchup look lopsided, and the result quickly reflected that gap. Keelon Russell finished with 285 passing yards and three touchdowns, plus another score on the ground, helping Alabama hit the 56-point mark for the first time this season. Trae’shawn Brown added two rushing touchdowns, Rico Scott caught two touchdown passes, and Dijon Lee Jr. chipped in with a 30-yard interception return for a score.

Russell is turning into the main issue for any defense trying to prepare for Alabama right now. A week earlier, he produced a career-high 400 yards of total offense in a 49-18 victory over South Carolina, completing 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards and four touchdowns while totaling 35 yards and another score on the ground. Alabama generated 489 yards and eight plays of at least 20 yards in that game. That level of quarterback play has made defending Kalen DeBoer’s offense considerably more complicated through the first month of the season.

Alabama’s progress is worth noting. The Tide started with a 48-10 win over East Carolina, followed by a 45-17 victory at Kentucky. They worked through early issues before putting away Florida State 50-36, then handled South Carolina with little trouble. Saturday’s game at Mississippi State was expected to be another test, but Alabama led 28-17 at halftime and only widened the gap from there.

Alabama is not free of its flaws. South Carolina managed 216 rushing yards, with Matt Fuller accounting for 112 of those, and Mississippi State had enough early success to keep things interesting for a while. Even so, Georgia’s staff will likely spend the week studying ways to test Alabama’s run defense and, if possible, keep Russell watching from the sideline.

Still, this does not look like an Alabama team searching for its identity. The Tide is 5-0, has scored at least 45 points in every game and has already won two SEC road games. Russell has become increasingly efficient, Alabama has multiple explosive receiving options, and the defense continues to create points and short fields. The Tide also gets Georgia at Bryant-Denny, where the Bulldogs have not won since 2007.

This game also has history attached to it. Georgia beat Alabama 28-7 in last season’s SEC Championship Game after losing 24-21 to the Tide during the regular season. Alabama still owns a 45-27-4 advantage in the series.

None of that settles anything next Saturday.

If Saturday in Starkville showed anything, it is that Georgia won’t head to Tuscaloosa expecting to find obvious weaknesses. Instead, the Bulldogs will be facing an unbeaten Alabama team that seems to be improving each week.

The challenge is to slow down that progress.

Kirby Smart’s Vandy Postgame Presser

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