Ryan Williams wasn’t even a year old the last time Alabama football was an underdog for a game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It was in 2007 against LSU during Nick Saban’s first season as coach of the Crimson Tide. Alabama lost 41-34 that day. Ever since, the Crimson Tide has been favored heading into every matchup in Tuscaloosa. That is set to change this week.
As of Monday, BetMGM has the line at Georgia -1.5. So the Bulldogs aren’t favored by much, but as of right now, they are favored.
No. 4 Alabama (3-0) is set to face No. 1/2 Georgia (3-0) on Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, in his first season at UA, was asked about being a home underdog for the first time since 2007.
“If there’s one doubter, that falls along with the ‘LANK’ mentality,” DeBoer said. “That’s what we get to do is let any of the naysayers know what we’re capable of and again, that’s no one’s fault that that’s what it is.”
DeBoer added it’s a tribute to what people see in Georgia and the Bulldogs’ success.
“And then for us it’s just a matter of doing what we can do,” DeBoer said. “Making sure that we present the best version of what we can be on Saturday, again, through great preparation, great focus, making sure that we’re feeling great about what we have because we do.”
DeBoer said Alabama feels it has a top-tier team.
“We really feel like the sky’s the limit,” DeBoer said. “You have to catch some breaks here along the way, whether it’s health or those big moments in games that get the swing in your favor and so you create those breaks and again, that’s just us going to work, focusing on the main thing, focusing on ourselves, focusing on us, that’s what matters most.”
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
