Two top-six teams will play Saturday night in Tuscaloosa and yet the potential impact of Hurricane Isaiah has overshadowed No. 2 Georgia at No. 6 Alabama. The hurricane, expected to make landfall on Friday, could bring significant bad weather to the state of Alabama on Saturday. It could even be as strong as a Category 2 hurricane – sustained wind speeds between 96 to 110 miles per hour – when it makes landfall on the Gulf Coast.
Both schools and the SEC have been monitoring the situation but the game is still scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Assuming it goes off as planned, it pits two of the SEC's premier teams against each other. There is plenty of history between the two schools as Alabama won a regular season game at Athens last season while Georgia avenged the loss with a win over the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship.
Alabama is coming off a convincing 56-23 win on the road over then-No. 16 Mississippi State. Quarterback Keelon Russell, who has emerged as a Heisman Trophy favorite, was fantastic against the Bulldogs, throwing for 285 yards and three touchdowns on just 22 pass attempts. Georgia has crushed all its competition this season.
The Bulldogs' lowest scoring output of the season came last week over Vanderbilt in what was still a 38-14 win. Georgia has the best scoring margin in the country with an average victory of 32.5 points. How much could Hurricane Isaias impact the game?
It's one of the biggest looming questions of the weekend. Alabama has the nation's third-best scoring offense while Georgia ranks third in rushing defense, seventh in total defense and 12th in scoring defense. Alabama's run game is improved this season but still ranks only 44th nationally which could be a significant factor if the pass game is ineffective in poor weather conditions.
Leading TD rusher out: Georgia will be without running back Chauncey Bowens who leads the Bulldogs with six rushing touchdowns. Bowens has been especially valuable as a short-yardage back which could have come in handy in what might be rainy and messy conditions Saturday night. While his loss is significant, the good news is Georgia will likely have running back Nate Frazier back.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
