Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spent Wednesday morning making one thing clear: Alabama is not the same team it was last December.
Speaking on the SEC Football Coaches Media Teleconference, Smart praised the Crimson Tide’s current form ahead of Saturday’s road trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium, where No. 6 Alabama will host No.
2 Georgia at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
“Another great SEC matchup, playing in a really tough place to play,” he explained. “I have a lot of respect for coach (Kalen) DeBoer, the job he's done. I don't think many coaches in the country would want to go behind the great legend coach he came in behind, and that is a tough job with tough expectations, and he's done an incredible job there through his own ways and his own rights.”
Smart didn’t stop there. He said Alabama has been stacking together the kind of physical football that changes the tone of a game.
“And a lot of respect for the way they're playing football right now,” he told the media. “They are playing a very physical brand of football, the elite athlete at quarterback, and they're turning people over on defense.
They're just really playing at a high level and playing at home. So we're looking forward to going, and our guys are excited to go play in an awesome environment.”
One of the biggest shifts Smart pointed to was Alabama’s run game, which has looked much more effective this season than it did a year ago. For him, the answer starts with how the Tide are built.
“They're physical, extremely physical. They have a commitment to the run, a commitment that is unwavering, and they have really physical tight ends, really physical offensive line, and they have big backs and lots of them. You know, they've got really four functioning backs that are playing at a high level and doing a great job.”
Smart was also asked to identify the “biggest difference” between Alabama in last December’s SEC Championship Game and Alabama this October. His answer centered on the roster itself.
“Healthier, a different team right now in terms,” he responded. “Different physical makeup of the team. They're bigger defensively, and they're healthier, so they don't have a lot of significant injuries.”
He also had plenty to say about Alabama’s linebacker group, which has drawn attention this fall thanks to sophomore Luke Metz, Caleb Woodson, and freshman Xavier Griffin, who led the Crimson Tide in tackles and added his first career sack in the win at Mississippi State.
“Athleticism, size, speed, toughness, key and diagnose,” Smart shared his thoughts on the room. “They get downhill fast.
They play really physical. They seek contact.
They top off runners. I mean, they do a really good job.”
Smart wrapped up the 10-minute session by addressing the Alabama-Georgia rivalry itself, calling it one of the conference’s biggest draws while noting the weight of the recent matchups.
“It makes it exciting. I mean, I see every game in the conference as a big game. This one has a more storied history, especially recent history, because of the matchups and because of the two divisions where they ended up, you know, being pitted against each other and the meaningful games that we've played against them in the recent, I don't know, 10-15 year, history.”
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