BREAKING NEWS: Alabama receives commitment from 2027 4-star in-state offensive lineman Jatori Williams

Hello and Roll Tide!

On Saturday, Alabama went into Sanford Stadium and took down the Georgia Bulldogs 24-21. Kalen DeBoer improves to 2-0 against the Dawgs while Kirby Smart moves to 1-7 against the Crimson Tide. Alabama scored first midway through the 1st and never lost the lead. This is the first time in 72 games that Georgia did not hold a lead at all in a contest. Alabama also snapped Georgia’s 33 game home winning streak, which was the longest active streak in the FBS. Alabama continues to be Georgia’s kryptonite. DeBoer and staff should enjoy the victory, but quickly shift their focus to Vanderbilt who will be visiting Tuscaloosa this weekend. Below is an injury update, depth notes, Georgia recap, and Week 5 storylines revisited. Let’s go!

Injury Update:

  • Jam Miller and Tim Keenan both made their season debuts against Georgia
  • Danny Lewis was a game-time decision and played 17 snaps on Saturday
  • Jalen Hale and Jah-Marien Latham did not play against Georgia
  • Qua Russaw broke his foot against Georgia and underwent surgery. Qua is out indefinitely, but is expected to return later this season

Depth Notes:

  • Isaiah Horton and Germie Bernard led the wide receivers in snaps while Ryan Williams, Lotzier Brooks, and Rico Scott shared the WR3 role
  • Kaydn Proctor and Parker Brailsford took every offensive snap while the rest of the offensive line rotated: Gino VanDeMark, Kam Dewberry, Wilkin Formby, William Sanders, Michael Carroll, and Jaeden Roberts all took snaps along the line
  • After Qua’s injury, Yhonzae Pierre was the lead WOLF followed by true freshman Justin Hill
  • Dijon Lee had a significant role taking 29 snaps on defense

Week 5 Recap: Georgia

Offense: Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb did a phenomenal job preparing Alabama’s offense for this game. Ty Simpson looked prepared for anything that Georgia threw at him. The offensive line gave Ty plenty of room for comfort. The receivers showed a great zone-understanding as they were constantly open. Alabama’s offense converted 13 of 19 third down opportunities. Grubb also called a lot of trick plays that caught Georgia off guard. This was a very impressive showing by Alabama on the road. Ty Simpson was simply fantastic on Saturday night. He showed great pocket awareness, stepping up or away from pressure with his eyes downfield. He was precise with all his passes, often fitting them into tight openings between Georgia defenders. Even when Georgia blitzed, Ty was able to get the ball out quickly to an open receiver. Ty distributed the ball evenly as his 25 completions were to 8 different players. Ryan, Isaiah, and Germie each had 5 receptions. Germie and Isaiah scored touchdowns, and Ryan should have as well. Ryan dropped a 62-yard bomb from Ty early in the 1st quarter. Kevin Riley was impressive in the passing game, taking two screen passes for 37 yards. Lotzier Brooks looked explosive with his two catches: Brooks hauled in a 19-yard pass over the middle, showing toughness as he was hit by multiple defenders as soon as he landed; Lotzier took a screen pass 21-yards with multiple broken tackles along the way. Whenever Alabama needed a big play, Grubb dialed something up. With less than one minute left in the 1st half, Alabama lined up with six offensive linemen on the field and Kaydn Proctor split off to the far left. Ty threw a screen to Proctor who caught it and ran 11-yards for a first down. Then Ty finished off the drive with a 2-yard rush out of a quarterback RPO. Alabama’s offense could not be stopped in the first half, and they did just enough in the second half to maintain their lead. While Alabama’s passing attack worked all game, the Tide did struggle to run the football. Alabama only averaged 3.1 yards per carry in the contest, although unlike the FSU game, Alabama did not abandon the run. The passing/rush split was 39/38, almost exactly 50/50. This enhanced Alabama’s ability to run play-action passes as Georgia had to be prepared for rushing attempts. When Alabama needed it most, Jam Miller closed out the game. Jam had a 7-yard and 6-yard rush on the last drive then hauled in a 7-yard pass for a first down to ice the game. The play call was brilliant: Alabama loaded the left side of their formation and had Germie Bernard motion left, showing a flood sprint, but Ty quickly turned around to find Jam wide open in the right-side flat. Ty was asked about the play after the game, “We call that a break last moment… They brought blitz zero, I knew once we motioned him, we had them, ‘cause nobody was going to take the back.”

Defense: Alabama’s defense took the “bend don’t break” approach as they did just enough to win this football game. The defensive line only had 1 sack and 3 pressures on Gunner Stockton but the coverage behind them was effective. Bray Hubbard, Deontae Lawson, and Dre Kickrpatrick Jr. all recorded a pass deflection. Bama struggled to contain the run, allowing 227 yards on 33 carries (6.9 yards per attempt). However, they did make big plays when Alabama needed it most. Alabama forced three 3-and-outs. Bray Hubbard forced a fumble in the 2nd quarter leading to a field goal. The biggest play on defense came in the 4th quarter when Georgia went for it on 4th down on Alabama’s 8-yardline. Georgia ran a hurry-up offense and handed the ball off to Cash Jones on the weakside. This was a great play call, but LT Overton flew through his block and tackled him for a loss. Alabama’s defense only allowed 7 points in the 2nd half, maintaining a small lead. Alabama’s defense was inconsistent for a lot of this game. The defense stopped Georgia during their first two possessions, helping the team get off to a 14-0 lead. Then in the 2nd quarter, Domani Jackson had a few miscues leading to easy points. Domani missed a one-on-one rush assignment leading to a 29-yard rush. Immediately following, Kane Wommack dialed up a safety blitz leaving Domani Jackson alone in man coverage where he got beat for a 38-yard touchdown. Keon Saab likely should have been there to help, but instead Georgia scored uncontested. Not too much later, Domani missed another rushing assignment leading to a 43-yard rush by Chancey Bowens. Georgia continued to target Domani and Keon: Dillon Bell took a jet sweep 43-yards, burning both defensive backs. Georgia did a good job of forcing Alabama’s defensive backs to make tackles, and often they were unable to hold up. Inconsistency in the secondary led to Kane putting younger players in during crucial moments. That being said, Bray Hubbard played great at the safety position, the one highlight in the secondary. He blew up blocks, deflected passes, and bull-rushed running backs. Dijon Lee played 29 snaps at cornerback in the 2nd half. Both Zay Mincey and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. played in the 2nd half, Dre recording one tackle. While the unit did not play perfect, they did just enough to hold of the Dawgs late-game heroics.

Special Teams: Alabama did not take any risks in the return game as they converted every kickoff into touchbacks and fair caught every punt. Conor Talty made three extra points and a field goal from 24-yards out. He had a horrible miss from 43-yards out, hooking it way left. It’s possible he lost his footing during the attempt as he’s been consistent so far this year. Blake Doud punted the ball 3 times, averaging 39.7 yards per punt and pinned Georgia inside the 20 on two of those attempts.

Week 5 Storylines Revisited

Will DeBoer’s Tide show up on the road?: Alabama’s struggles on the road were nowhere to be found on Saturday. The offense played with confidence and the defense played with intensity. Neither side seemed to be intimidated by the hostile environment at Sanford Stadium. Alabama maintained the lead all game since midway through the 1st. This was an inspiring performance that should help DeBoer prepare for road tests the rest of the season.

Can the Tide O-line hold up against Georgia as they continue to rotate along the line?: Alabama continued to rotate offensive linemen against Georgia, and they remained successful. Kadyn Proctor and Parker Brailsford played every offensive snap while the rest of the line rotated. Wilkin Formby was the next highest with 70 of 77 possible snaps. He was graded by PFF as the top offensive lineman in pass blocking for week 5. Ryan Grubb said that rotating linemen keeps them fresh and that appeared to be true as Ty was only pressured 5 times on 38 pass attempts. Rotating lineman is not a common practice, but Grubb is a non-traditional offensive coordinator. If Alabama continues to have success with this, Grubb could personally change the offensive philosophy of college football.

Will Georgia be able to stop Hollywood?: Georgia did not shut down Ryan Williams, yet Alabama did not need to rely on him either. His 5 catches were effective, 3 of them resulting in a 1st down. Ryan hauled in a 9-yard pass in the 4th quarter, holding on after a big hit, resulting in a crucial 3rd down conversion. Instead of relying on Ryan’s big-play potential, Ty spread the ball out, keeping Georgia guessing. Ryan also worked as a decoy, often drawing attention from defenders, opening other receivers. He did drop a deep ball and leads the SEC in dropped passes, something he needs to improve on. Hollywood may not have been a superstar on Saturday night, but I think he’d rather walk out of Sanford Stadium with a Win than an MVP award.

Send any questions or comments my way. If you have any nuggets from the game, I’d love to hear them! As always, if you know of anyone interested in joining the newsletter, send their contact info my way. Roll Tide! -Jake