No. 6 Alabama football and No. 2 Georgia will battle in the regular season for a third straight year on Saturday night in one of college football’s most anticipated games of 2026.
The Bulldogs will seek their first win over the Crimson Tide in both the regular season and in Tuscaloosa since 2007, when quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a game-winning touchdown in overtime to upset Alabama in former head coach Nick Saban’s first season. The Crimson White spoke to Zach Pascuzzi, the assistant sports editor of The Red and Black, the University of Georgia’s independent student news organization, ahead of the primetime matchup.
FI: What has led to the staggering production Georgia has received from its running backs and Gunner Stockton this season?
ZP: “Gunner Stockton, just overall, I think, is the most underrated quarterback in college football. I think the dude doesn’t get a whole lot of credit because of how good our running game is and how, you know, dependable our offensive coordinator is on our running game. Gunner Stockton has shown that he has the ability to really just manage a game. … That’s a big part of why our running game, I think, is a little bit better. They’re able to create the gaps that they need to help the running backs get downfield. I’ve been way more impressed with the offensive line from this point. We knew that we have a really deep backfield. Nate Frazier’s missed a lot of time already this season because of injury, but we’ve got Chauncey Bowens, and then our third string, Dwight Phillips Jr., has had multiple career days already, because he’s been called upon to depend and we’ve got sophomore Bo Walker behind him. We really have three or four really good options in the backfield.”
FI: Alabama’s secondary has struggled at times this year. Could someone like Talyn Taylor be a key receiver in this game?
ZP: “I think he showed that against, you know, a solid defense against Oklahoma, he was able to get downfield. He was able to end up in solid spots. Against Vanderbilt, he was a little quiet, but if I had to say somebody that I think we need more of so far has been London Humphreys. I think that London Humphreys should be the number one guy. He had a touchdown against Arkansas, but I think that he is, you know, he’s a senior, so he should be the most experienced wide receiver there.”
“I don’t know who the star wide receiver is on this team. I think guys have each had really good games, and then really quiet games. I’d like to have somebody be consistent, but for now, I don’t think it’s necessarily a weakness to have a lot of weapons.”
FI: Do the potential monsoon-like conditions favor Georgia in this game, given its physical approach?
ZP: “I would say yes, only because we’re on the road, right? I think honestly, going into this game, Alabama is probably under more pressure just being the home team. I think that you guys, in the end, would probably be expected to win. I mean, in general, right, in recent years, you guys have had our number. Let’s be honest. You have beaten us in, four of five SEC championship games that you’ve played us in. And we split the national championships that we’ve had. If it’s in the elements, then I think that plays into our favor largely because our running game has proven itself to be very good. I think that if in the elements, when you know it’s going to be difficult to throw the football, difficult to see [and] difficult to hold on to the football, you’re going to want a solid pair of running backs like we have to control that.”
FI: If the weather allows for a shootout, how much trouble could a potent Alabama passing attack give a talented Georgia secondary?
ZP: “Our secondary is gonna have to be at the top of its game. And as you said, we’re blessed to have really great guys anchoring that secondary: Elvis Robinson IV, K.J. Bolden. We also have Demello Jones. They’re all, these are all really good players. We’ve got to be really, really sharp with our open-field tackling. … We cannot let you guys find open pockets of space down the field. I think, in general, we haven’t faced a quarterback like Keelon Russell yet this year. Let’s face it, some of these guys that we’ve been playing, like John Mateer, [Blaze] Berlowitz for Vanderbilt, [he is] not even the starter for Vanderbilt, not the regular starter anyway. I think Keelon Russell just is such a dynamic signal caller. He thinks on his feet; he’s quick to make decisions. Doesn’t hesitate over missed reads. He can very quickly adapt to the pressure that comes at him. This was the kind of quarterback that really undid us. [Ole Miss quarterback] Trinidad Chambliss really undid us in the College Football Playoff [by] finding receivers downfield that were just not marked.”
FI: What are your keys to the game, and can you give us a score prediction?
ZP: “I don’t think y’all are gonna be putting up 56 points even in your own building on us. But we really got to limit Keelon Russell. We got to limit his ability to make downfield plays. We got to ramp up the pressure. We’ve got to get sacks. I think we have to also be very pragmatic in this, because y’all return a lot of interceptions for touchdowns. Y’all got a lot of ballhawks in your secondary, so we really need to get that run game going. We really do not want Gunner Stockton to be having to pass the ball on first and second down. We want Nate Frazier to make his mark on this game, so we need our offensive line to protect well [and] create the space for him, because he can be explosive once he takes off.
“At the risk of being pessimistic, I think that y’all will probably beat us. I’m gonna say something like Bama 24, Georgia 17. I’m going to say that neither offense is going to be able to score 40 points on the other, especially not if the weather’s bad. I think this is definitely going to be the lowest-scoring game on average for both teams this season. I think in the end y’all will probably just edge us by about a touchdown or so, maybe even a field goal; [it] might be 20-17. But I think y’all will just be able to edge us by one score.”
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