The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs are two teams that are very familiar with each other, having operated as two of the best teams in the SEC over the past couple of decades. Since the 2015 season, the Crimson Tide have been crowned national champs three times, and the Bulldogs have won twice. However, the 2024 campaign was a disappointing one for both. Georgia was handled comfortably in the college football playoff quarterfinal by Notre Dame, and Alabama didn’t even make the cut, despite the playoff field being expanded to 12.
Carson Beck’s injury was the primary factor behind Georgia’s loss to the Fighting Irish. Still, regular-season losses to Ole Miss and this underwhelming 9-4 Alabama side tell the story of a Bulldogs side that was not up to the same level as their three previous dominant seasons. So, with Alabama holding the bragging rights, which team can rebound better in 2025? This is a way-too-early preview of their Week 4 clash, including a breakdown of how the Bulldogs have tweaked their roster throughout the offseason.
Introducing the Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs need little introduction. Between 2021 and 2023, they boasted a record of 42 wins to just two losses, including a perfect, unbeaten season in 2022. This was the second of their back-to-back national championship-winning efforts, piloted by Kirby Smart as head coach and Carson Beck (in 2022 only) under center. Beck returned in 2023 to lead the team to another unbeaten 12-0 record before the regular season finale, which the team inexplicably lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide, ridding them of playoff football and handing the Crimson Tide the bragging rights.
Alabama held on to the bragging rights in 2024, in a season in which Carson Beck failed to take the steps forward that Bulldog fans and college football analysts hoped he would. He entered the season as one of the highest-ranked quarterbacks in terms of projections for the 2025 NFL Draft. Still, a 64% completion rate for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions represented a step back in form for the Bulldogs quarterback, who has since left for Miami The offense fell to the 37th best in the nation with 30.2 points per game, down from 39.5 and a fifth-best ranking in 2023. Meanwhile, the defense fell from 7th best in the country to 24th.
With so many top stars, such as Ladd McConkey, Brock Bowers, Amarius Mims, and Kamari Lassiter having departed for the draft, it was no surprise that the team took a step back. Now, with two national titles and just two lost games across the previous three seasons, Kirby Smart is not exactly under pressure after an underwhelming 11-3 2024 campaign. That’s still a good effort for the SEC, but it reflects Georgia’s worst season since 2018, so the team will be eager to bounce back strong.
The question is, have they done enough in the transfer portal to allow them to do that?
2025 Georgia Bulldogs Depth Chart and Roster Changes
The biggest change for the Georgia Bulldogs between the 2024 and 2025 seasons comes at quarterback. After sustaining his UCL injury and missing the playoffs in 2024, Carson Beck heads to Miami. The man who replaced him at the end of the season was Gunnar Stockton, and it appears he is in pole position for the starting role ahead of the 2025 campaign. Stockton only attempted 16 passes in the Bulldogs’ SEC Championship game win over Texas, before completing 62.5% of his passes for 234 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions against a very tough Notre Dame defense in the playoff quarterfinal. The junior should be the starter for the season opener, especially as he took the majority of snaps in the team’s spring game, but there is a slim chance he gets pipped to the post by redshirt freshman Ryan Puglisi. This is a battle for Bama fans to watch ahead of their clash with the Bulldogs in late September.
Helping out Stockton or Puglisi is top transfer wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who has been speedy for days and is always going to be a threat to take the top off the defense. He collected 503 yards and one touchdown last season with the Trojans. Branch doesn’t come close to the Crimson Tide’s awesome talent in Ryan Williams, but he is a player to be wary of and capable of contributing to the return game. Noah Thomas is another name arriving to bolster the wide receiver room after notching 574 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. With the Bulldogs’ top weapons all departing this offseason, who knows how this group will shake out in 2025, but it will make the first few games an intriguing watch.
Most changes for the Georgia Bulldogs came on the defensive side of the ball, having to make up for the departures of talents such as Mykel Williams, Jalon Walker, and Malaki Starks. Elo Modozie headlines the defensive additions as a promising outside linebacker talent, projecting to start immediately for the Bulldogs after logging 34 tackles and 6.5 sacks as a key contributor for Army last season. Zion Branch and Jaden Harris then slot in as safety depth transfer additions.
Overall, the Georgia Bulldogs mostly rely on their impressive collection of young talent to replace the players who have gone to the draft. The transfer portal has brought in a few good players at several key positions, but will it be enough to account for so many key talents departing over the last couple of seasons?
What is Riding on This Game?
The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs endured underwhelming 2024 campaigns and found little help in the transfer portal this offseason. There is a heavy reliance on youth to help both teams progress forward and get back on track to title contention, and this early-season clash will be a good benchmarking game to see where they are in their progression.
Even with the expanded playoff picture, every win is crucial, and neither team will want to give one up so early in the year, especially to a bitter rival. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is still fighting to convince Crimson Tide fans that he is a suitable replacement for the legendary Nick Saban. DeBoer’s boys won last year, 41 points to 34, and he hopes to capitalize on Georgia’s step back in form and departing talent to make it two from two.
Another interesting wrinkle for this game is that both teams will be coming off a bye week, which is a surprise this early in the season. It allows these very smart coaches to get their boys dialed in before the crucial clash. The game being in Athens certainly helps the Bulldogs, but there is a lot of unknown facing both rosters, and this will be a fascinating game to confirm what trajectories the two sides are on.
