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Why Alabama Football Will Win
- Call this first one a half-hunch. Maybe not by much, but if he gets protection, Ty Simpson is a better quarterback than Gunner Stockton.
- Alabama's defensive backfield is better than Georgia's, and maybe by a wide margin. Domani Jackson has the speed to keep up with Zachariah Branch. So does Dijon Lee, though a freshman on the road in Athens is a scary proposition.
- The Alabama Crimson Tide Kalen DeBoer-Ryan Grubb offense can present consistent challenges to a Nick Saban-like Georgia defense. It happened in Tuscaloosa last season, against a better Georgia defensive team than the current one. This claim was also proven when DeBoer coached the Washington Huskies to wins over Oregon and Dan Lanning's Saban-like defense.
- Simpson will need time, but even Austin Peay had some success throwing the ball against Georgia. The Governors completed 69.5% of their passes against the Bulldogs. There is a fair chance Simpson will have a primary receiver open on most passing plays. That premise does not include checkdowns.
- Getting Tim Keenan and Jam Miller back is huge for the Crimson Tide.
What's it to be? My heart says an Alabama win. Too much of my head says the Bulldogs squeak by from the toe of Peyton Woodring.