Politics and college football are likely to collide tomorrow in Tuscaloosa. The Alabama Crimson Tide play the Georgia Bulldogs in a rematch of last year’s SEC Championship game. Alabama beat the Dogs twenty seven to twenty four. That ended Georgia’s chances at a national championship three-peat. Saturday’s game in Tuscaloosa also has the added complication that Donald Trump plans to be in the stands. Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer says he’s been working to keep the team focused…
“You know, I always challenge them to play the best football game they've ever played in their career," said Deboer. "And so that's what matters when it comes down to what we can control and but yeah, it is kind of cool that we have a lot of people who want to come be a part of the atmosphere.”
Alabama opens league play after an off week following a 42-10 victory at Wisconsin led by quarterback Jalen Milroe, who passed for three of his five touchdowns and 196 of his 271 yards of offense. Milroe has passed for eight of his 14 TDs this season and been mentioned as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate. The Tide come in averaging 466.7 yards per game and rank sixth in SEC offense. The Bulldogs had a week to regroup after escaping Kentucky 13-12 in their SEC opener to extend their impressive defensive streak of not allowing a touchdown to four games dating to last season's Orange Bowl win over Florida State. Georgia. For Alabama, the celebrity line-up for Saturday included ESPN’s College Gameday as well as Donald Trump. Tide coach Kalen DeBoer says his goal was to keep the distractions to a minimum among the players.
“I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of celebrity type people here, people that want to come be a part of, you know, what's, what's happening on on game day, it's going to be, you know, everyone's watching," he said.
The other four SEC matchups include top-ranked Texas (4-0) hosting rebuilding Mississippi State in its inaugural league game; No. 6 Ole Miss opening SEC play against visiting Kentucky, which seeks its first league win; Oklahoma visiting Auburn; and Arkansas traveling to Texas A&M after both won their conference openers. Texas is a 38-1/2-point favorite according to BetMGM, but the Longhorns don't know who will start at quarterback. Quinn Ewers returned to practice this week from an abdominal strain that sidelined him against Louisiana-Monroe but is questionable. Arch Manning earned his career win as a starter, passing for two TDs along with two interceptions in the 51-3 rout.
