Alabama doesn’t exactly ease into the conference slate. After a bye in Week 4, Kalen DeBoer’s team will head to Athens to face a Georgia Bulldogs team that will be deadset on revenge after last year’s chaotic 41-34 loss to the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
Beating Georgia was the high point of DeBoer’s first season leading the Tide, and it won’t be easy to replicate on the road. Despite that loss and another to Ole Miss, Georgia still went on to beat Texas for the SEC Title and nearly downed Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl without starting quarterback Carson Beck.
Beck, after two years as Kirby Smart’s starter, is now in Miami for his final season of eligibility, with Smart handing Gunner Stockton the keys to his offense. With Stockton at QB, Smart and much-maligned offensive coordinator Mike Bobo may lean into an old-school Georgia offensive identity built around running back Nate Frazier. So, stopping the 5-foot-10, 210-pound sophomore will be priority No. 1 for DeBoer and his DC Kane Wommack.
Beating Georgia in 2025 starts with slowing down Nate Frazier
With Trevor Etienne serving a one-game suspension, Nate Frazier was thrust into a major role in Week 1 of his true freshman season, and while his carries ebbed and flowed throughout the year, he never truly relinquished that role. After rushing for 83 yards on 11 carries in Week 1, Frazier went on to lead the Bulldogs with 671 yards on the ground on a team-high 133 attempts.
Frazier left a lot to be desired in the passing game, producing 0.77 yards per route run with 12 receptions and two drops on 15 targets. He’s in no way a downfield threat as a pass-catcher and was rarely trusted in pass protection. He’ll need to iron those aspects of his game out to stay on the field all three downs, but when he gets the ball in his hands as a runner, he has the talent to be one of the best in the SEC.
The former four-star averaged 5.0 yards per attempt last season with 374 yards after contact and 21 missed tackles forced. His 0.02 EPA/rush and 42% success rate were both pedestrian marks, but for a true freshman who flashed explosiveness and physicality, there is a lot to be excited about.
With a talented group of downhill linebackers, two of whom are back for 2025, Alabama held up well against the ground game in 2024, finishing 17th in EPA/rush. The second and third level tackling of Wommack’s defense limited opposing offenses to an explosive rush on just 5.6% of their carries, an excellent mark that the Tide will need to replicate to slow down Frazier in Athens this season.
Last year’s matchup quickly devolved into a shootout with Beck launching deep balls to dig the Dawgs out of a massive early deficit. Georgia ended with just 80 rushing yards, due to ineffectiveness and a negative game script after falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter. Smart and Bobo won’t let that happen again, especially with DeBoer breaking in a new starting quarterback.
If last year’s matchup was decided by Beck, Milroe, and Ryan Williams, the 2025 edition may come down to which team can run the ball and protect their inexperienced QB better.