Georgia football coach Kirby Smart's history with, and against, Alabama: what to know

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart takes on Alabama on Saturday (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC) in the premiere matchup to date on the SEC's 2024 schedule. It will mark Smart's seventh matchup against the Crimson Tide since ending his wildly successful eight-year stint as Alabama's defensive coordinator under legendary coach Nick Saban. This time, however, it won't be Saban on the opposing sideline, as UA has replaced the retired Saban with Kalen DeBoer. And it will come with a national-best 42-game regular-season win streak on the line.

How good were Kirby Smart's Alabama football defenses?

Smart was the secondary coach for Saban's first Alabama team in 2007, but took over as defensive coordinator beginning in 2008. With a suffocating run defense and a relentless pass rush, Smart's defenses were utterly dominant, and produced a parade of future first-round selections in the NFL draft. In the category of total defense (yards allowed), Smart-led Alabama defenses ranked as follows: 2008 (1st in SEC, 3rd in NCAA), 2009 (1st in SEC, 2nd in NCAA), 2010 (1st in SEC, 5th in NCAA), 2011 (1st in SEC, 1st in NCAA), 2012 (1st in SEC, 1st in NCAA), 2013 (1st in SEC, 5th in NCAA), 2014 (3rd in SEC, 12th in NCAA), 2015 (1st in SEC, 3rd in NCAA). Smart's peak defense? Let's go with the national title season of 2011, when UA led the NCAA in five defensive categories, including an allowance of just 8.15 points per game.

Kirby Smart's departure from Georgia to Alabama

Georgia had made previous unsuccessful attempts to hire Smart away from Alabama to serve as defensive coordinator under Mark Richt, but when the head coaching job came open, the former Bulldogs defensive back came home . He accepted the position prior to Alabama's appearance in the 2015 SEC Championship Game. He stayed at Alabama through the postseason to win a College Football Playoff national title, although his weeks-long transition wasn't without some hard feelings . Among the Alabama staffers he took with him were former UA assistant coach Mel Tucker, and strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran.

What are Georgia coach Kirby Smart's defensive tendencies?

Not surprisingly, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann's system doesn't look too different from the one Smart ran at Alabama under Saban. The Bulldogs don't blitz excessively, they play a lot of man-to-man defense in the secondary, and disguise coverages well. Another of Smart's tendencies as Alabama DC that hasn't changed at Georgia: he doesn't like the three-man pass rush. In third-and-very-long situations, the Bulldogs will still generally go with a four-man pass rush.

How Georgia's Kirby Smart fared against Nick Saban

Smart's Bulldogs tangled with Saban's Crimson Tide six times, including three SEC Championship Games and two College Football Playoff National Championship Games. Saban won five of them, with the national title game following the 2021 season being the lone loss to his protege. The scores:

Alabama 26, Georgia 23, OT (2017 CFP title game)

Alabama 35, Georgia 28 (2018 SEC title game)

Alabama 41, Georgia 24 (2020 in Tuscaloosa)

Alabama 41, Georgia 24 (2021 SEC title game)

Georgia 33, Alabama 18 (2021 CFP title game)

Alabama 27, Georgia 24 (2023 SEC title game)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart's first game against Alabama

Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa was the hero of the first matchup, beating Georgia 26-23 with a game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith for the CFP title game following the 2017 season. In relief of an ineffective Jalen Hurts, the freshman Tagovailoa rallied Alabama in the second half to send the game into overtime at 20-20, then connected with Smith on a 2nd-and-26 pass to the left sideline over the top of the Georgia defense. It was his third touchdown pass despite coming off the bench in the third quarter. Said Smart: "When it mattered most and counted most, we couldn’t close it out and run the ball for first downs."

Georgia coach Kirby Smart's last game against Alabama

In one of the most heartbreaking losses in Georgia history, the Bulldogs fell to Alabama 27-24 in last year's SEC Championship Game. Alabama QB Jalen Milroe overcame four sacks to throw two touchdown passes without committing a turnover. Georgia mounted a second-half comeback from a 17-7 halftime deficit, but with 2:52 remaining, the Crimson Tide offense ran out the clock with two first downs, both on Milroe runs. The loss not only denied Georgia the SEC title, it was also knocked UGA out of the College Football Playoff field, preventing a potential three-peat by the Bulldogs.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart's 2020 return to Tuscaloosa

While this will be Smart's seventh time facing Alabama since returning to his alma mater, it will be just his second time returning to Tuscaloosa. The first didn't go so well for the Bulldogs coach. Alabama hosted the UGA during the Crimson Tide's last national championship season, in 2020, and trounced UGA 41-24. QB Mac Jones threw for 400-plus, RB Najee Harris ran for 150-plus, and eventual Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith caught 11 balls for 167 and two scores. Defensively, Alabama intercepted Stetson Bennett three times.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Georgia football coach Kirby Smart's history with, and against, Alabama: what to know