Alabama Crimson Tide Vs Georgia Bulldogs

The road to the SEC Championship begins in earnest today as my beloved Crimson Tide travels to Athens to do battle ‘tween the hedges against Georgia.  Bama is ranked No. 13 while the Dawgs are sitting at No. 8.  The game kicks off at 3:30 PM and will air on CBS.

Coach Saban is counting on strong performances from Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake and the improved throwing skills of QB Jake Coker.  On the other side of the ball, the Dawgs have standout QB Grayson Lambert and the dynamic running duo of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

As good as Georgia’s offense has been so far this season they are facing a tenacious Bama defense.  They have great speed up and down the field and rarely make mistakes.  They will have to kick things up a notch against a disciplined Georgia offense.

Alabama hasn't played in Sanford Stadium since they buried the Bulldogs in their black jerseys (the now-famous “blackout” game) after running out to a 31-0 halftime lead and going on to totally destroy them 41-30 in 2008. Mark Richt was Georgia’s head coach at the time and must remember the sting of that loss.

Seth Emerson, who covers the Bulldogs for the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweeted back in August, “Georgia will not be wearing any alternative uniforms this year, per A.D. Greg McGarity. Stand down, Georgia fans.”

Given that “the blackout” failed, the braintrust at UGA has devised another method to pump up the Dawg Nation.  In advance of Saturday’s matchup, “Wear Red. Beat Bama” billboards were put up throughout the state.  Bama is in their heads big-time.

Bama leads the series between these two teams 37-25-4, but oddsmakers have the Tide as 2-and-a-half point underdogs for the first time in six years.

Bama’s senior defensive cornerback Cyrus Jones told Sports Illustrated on Monday, “The fact that we’re underdogs, I think it just gives us that much more motivation to go out there and just kind of reclaim our reputation and how we want to be viewed by the rest of the league and the rest of the country.

Freshman running back Bo Scarbrough is healthy again after tearing knee ligaments during spring ball and is eligible to play after missing four games due to an NCAA violation committed during his recruitment.

If Offensive Coordinator Lane Kiffin and Coach Saban decide to play Henry, Drake and Scarbrough at the same time it could open up Alabama’s offense and give the Dawgs’ defense fits.

Alabama’s dynasty has all but been called “dead” by the “experts”.  Go ahead ya’ll, keep telling yourself that.  Win this game and the loss to Ole Miss will be all but forgotten.

The forecast for today’s game is calling for staggering, soaking rains—might as well call it the Rain Bowl.  

Historic rainfall and major flood event looms for the Southeast this weekend http://t.co/Ux3svEdawg pic.twitter.com/Gt2zRttjAs

— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) October 2, 2015

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

And since no football post would be complete with some pom-poms, feast your eyes on one of Alabama’s lovely Crimsonettes.