SEC Championship Preview: Alabama’s Defensive Front Could Be the Difference Against Georgia
When Alabama and Georgia square off this Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, it won’t just be for conference bragging rights-it could be for a ticket to the College Football Playoff. And for Alabama, the stakes couldn’t be higher. A loss might leave the Crimson Tide on the outside looking in.
This will be the second meeting between these two SEC powerhouses this season. Alabama edged Georgia 24-21 back in September in Athens, but as any coach will tell you, beating a team like Georgia twice in the same season is no easy task-especially when that team is led by Kirby Smart.
The Bulldogs will come into this one with a chip on their shoulder and a game plan built on lessons learned. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer, who’s already bested Smart twice in the last two years, will need to dig deep into his playbook to make it three.
But Alabama may have one key advantage, and it’s right where the game could be won or lost: the trenches.
Senior defensive tackle and team captain Tim Keenan didn’t mince words when asked about the matchup on Monday. “They’re very sound,” Keenan said of Georgia.
“Especially in the SEC, the trenches - it kind of gets nasty in there. But it’s definitely gonna be a great battle, like it always is when Alabama and Georgia play.
But we should - I feel like that’s the mismatch of the game.”
Keenan’s confidence isn’t just talk. Georgia is dealing with a critical injury on the offensive line.
Starting center Drew Bobo is feared to have suffered a season-ending injury during last weekend’s win over Georgia Tech. That leaves the Bulldogs scrambling to find a replacement in the middle of their offensive line-an unenviable task with Keenan, a fifth-year senior and one of the most disruptive interior linemen in the SEC, waiting on the other side.
Whoever Georgia turns to at center will have their hands full trying to contain Keenan. And it’s not just Alabama hyping him up-Kirby Smart himself had high praise for the Tide’s nose tackle during the SEC Championship Game teleconference.
“He’s a really strong, stout, physical player,” Smart said. “Does a great job.
Always has. He’s a force to be reckoned with.
Really good football player.”
That’s not coach-speak. Keenan has been a rock in the middle of Alabama’s defense all season, and his presence could be the deciding factor in a game that’s likely to be decided up front.
Stopping the run will be mission-critical for Alabama. In their first matchup, Georgia piled up 227 rushing yards-despite the loss.
That was early in the season when quarterback Gunner Stockton was still finding his rhythm. Since then, Stockton has grown into a much more balanced threat, which makes Georgia even more dangerous if the run game gets going again.
Alabama can’t afford a repeat performance in the run defense department. If Georgia controls the line of scrimmage and churns out yardage on the ground, it could flip the script from September. But if Keenan and the rest of Alabama’s defensive front can dominate the line, exploit Georgia’s uncertainty at center, and force Stockton into uncomfortable situations, the Tide will have a real shot at punching their ticket to the playoff.
This game is going to come down to toughness, execution, and who controls the trenches. And according to Tim Keenan, that’s where Alabama holds the edge. We’ll find out Saturday if that mismatch becomes the defining story of the SEC title game.