GEORGIA GAME DAY BREAKDOWN: HIGH STAKES, HIGH REWARDS: Strength vs. strength in an ‘awesome’ test

Alabama has run the ball better than anyone else in the SEC this season. And Georgia has stopped the run better than anyone else in the SEC this season.

Georgia, with its arsenal of playmakers, has averaged more yards in total offense than anyone else in the SEC. And Alabama, with its arsenal of imposing defenders, has allowed fewer yards per game than all but two SEC teams.

Intriguing game coming up tonight in Sanford Stadium, wouldn’t you say?

“Two good teams, good defenses, good offenses —- it’s going to be awesome,” Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran said.

“These are the kind of games,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said, “that you should come to a place like the University of Alabama to play in.”

“It’s going to be smash-mouth football,” Georgia defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said.

While Georgia’s past three opponents have pretty much conceded an inability to run against the Bulldogs and concentrated on the pass, Alabama will make no such concession. With a bevy of running backs, led by Glen Coffee, playing behind an experienced offensive line, Alabama is averaging 236.8 yards rushing per game, 86 yards more than its passing average.

Georgia’s defensive front will gets it toughest test of the season in Alabama’s offensive line, and vice versa. And Georgia’s young offensive line, reshuffled after it struggled in the Bulldogs’ SEC opener at South Carolina, will get another huge test against mountainous Terrence Cody and the rest of Alabama’s defensive front.

Alabama’s defense is almost as stingy against the run as Georgia’s.

Should be a revealing night all around.

“It gives us another platform,” Curran said, “to make a statement to the nation.”

THE NUMBERS GAME

Over the long haul, Crimson Tide has winning record

0: Opponent points scored off Georgia turnovers this season

5-0: Georgia’s record vs. Alabama when both teams entered the game nationally ranked (1942, 1946, 1976, 2002 and 2007)

17-13: John Parker Wilson’s record as Alabama’s starting quarterback

22-4: Matthew Stafford’s record as Georgia’s starting quarterback

35-25-4: Alabama’s lead in the series vs. Georgia, including an 11-7 advantage in Athens

113: Years since the first Georgia-Alabama football game (1895 in Columbus)

WHAT IF …

A Georgia win would …

> Position the Bulldogs to move up in the polls, perhaps to No. 1.

> Extend the Bulldogs’ winning streak to 12 games, the longest since they won 15 in a row from the 1979 finale through the second game of 1981.

> Give the Bulldogs a four-game winning streak vs. Alabama, dating to 2002.

An Alabama win would …

> Avenge last year’s overtime loss to Georgia in Tuscaloosa.

> Be the Crimson Tide’s second victory in Georgia this season, following a 34-10 rout of Clemson at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 30.

> Be the Crimson Tide’s second victory this season over an opponent ranked in the nation’s top 10 (Clemson the other).

THE ATMOSPHERE

Night game has players excited

Under the lights between the hedges. National television. Two unbeaten, top-10 teams. Black jerseys. A clad-in-black crowd.

The Bulldogs expect quite the atmosphere tonight.

“I think it is more exciting being a late game,” safety Reshad Jones said. “Wearing the black jerseys will definitely get us hyped up and get our adrenaline rushing.”

Georgia’s senior players approached coach Mark Richt on the flight back from Arizona last Saturday night about wearing black for this game.

“I just said, ‘We got the jerseys,’ ” Richt said.

It’s a reprise of a psychological ploy the Bulldogs used last year for big wins over Auburn in Athens (45-20) and Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans (41-10). When the Bulldogs wore the black jerseys against Auburn on Nov. 10, it was the first time they had done so.

“The black jerseys get the fans involved, kind of get everybody excited leading up to the game,” wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi said. “But the black jerseys are not going to win the game for us. We still have to be out there playing as hard as we can.”

REWIND

Could it be like last year’s game?

Last week’s games:

> Georgia 27, Arizona 10: The Bulldogs won in Tempe behind freshman receiver A.J. Green’s breakout game (eight catches, 159 yards) and Knowshon Moreno’s 149 yards rushing.

> Alabama 49, Arkansas 14: The Crimson Tide rolled in Fayetteville, Ark., with four scoring plays of more than 60 yards.

And last year’s meeting:

> Georgia 26, Alabama 23 (OT): A Matthew Stafford-to-Mikey Henderson pass in the left corner of the end zone on Georgia’s first play of overtime gave the Bulldogs the hard-fought victory. Georgia coach Mark Richt said he “can’t imagine” anything other than a similar battle tonight.

KEY MATCHUP

Freshman must deal with Cody

A lot of eyes will be on Georgia’s freshman center, 6-3, 300-pound Ben Jones, when he —- with help —- goes up against Alabama’s massive nose guard, 6-foot-5, 365-pound Terrence Cody.

Jones wasn’t available to discuss the assignment this week, since Georgia’s freshmen offensive linemen aren’t allowed to speak with the media. But Jones isn’t taken aback by the task, according to his fellow lineman, redshirt sophomore Chris Davis.

“Ben’s a good ol’ country boy, and he loves a challenge,” Davis said.

Jones is from Centreville, Ala.

SCOUTING REPORT

Tide loaded with great athletes

Georgia coach Mark Richt on the Crimson Tide:

> OT Andre Smith “is absolutely a first-round draft pick. And Antoine Caldwell, their center —- those are two guys who are gonna be great pros.”

> “Their tight ends” —- Travis McCall and Nick Walker —- “are outstanding. We struggled covering the tight end at South Carolina, so we’ve got to do a better job at that.”

> RB Glen Coffee “is third in the league in rushing —- right behind Knowshon. All of their running backs are very, very good.”

> “No one man’s blocked [6-5, 365-pound NG Terrence Cody], and I haven’t really seen any double-teams block him either. He’s a problem. Probably the reason why they’re so outstanding with stopping the rush. Talk about a guy who can push the pocket back into the face of a quarterback.”

“Our offensive coaches used the term that [linebacker Rolando McClain] will ‘pierce you.’ That’s how hard he’ll hit you.”

TAKING STOCK

Lowest numbers in quarter-century

How big a game is it, anyway?

> No. 3 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama make for the highest-ranking set of opponents to play in Sanford Stadium since No. 3 Auburn beat No. 4 Georgia there in 1983, a quarter-century ago.

> Before the 1983 game, you have to go all the way back to 1946, when No. 3 Georgia beat No. 7 Georgia Tech, to find a higher-ranked set of opponents in a Sanford Stadium game.

> This is just the ninth time in the 79-year history of Sanford Stadium that two teams ranked in the Associated Press top 10 have met there, the first time since 2002.

TV/RADIO

It won’t be same without Munson

> TV: The game will be nationally televised on ESPN, with Mike Patrick on play-by-play, Todd Blackledge as analyst and Holly Rowe as field reporter. ESPN’s “College GameDay” pregame show will air from Athens, 10 a.m. to noon.

> Radio: For the first time in 43 seasons, Georgia will play a game at Sanford Stadium without Larry Munson in the broadcast booth. He announced his retirement on Monday. Scott Howard will call play-by-play, as he has done on road games since last season, with analysis by Eric Zeier and sideline reporting by Loran Smith.

INJURY REPORT

Dogs still a little dinged

> Georgia defensive end Rod Battle, who had started 15 consecutive games, will miss his third in a row with an injured neck. Coach Mark Richt said Battle might be able to return in the Oct. 11 game against Tennessee.

> Georgia fullback Brannan Southerland, who hasn’t played this season while recovering from foot surgery, will be used as the personal protector on the punt team and a wing on the extra point and field goal teams.

> Georgia safety Quintin Banks, who missed the first four games after injuring a knee on the opening day of preseason practice, has been medically cleared to play tonight. Richt wouldn’t say how much he’ll play tonight.

> Three Alabama players who came out of last week’s game with minor injuries —- cornerback Javier Arenas, defensive lineman Josh Chapman and linebacker Rolando McClain —- are good to go.

 COMPARING DOGS, TIDE
How Georgia and Alabama have fared in running and passing —- and stopping the run and pass —- through their first four games this season (figures are yards per game, with SEC rank in parentheses):
Team ....Rushing offense..Rushing defense..Passing offense..Passing defense
Georgia..189.2 (4)........45.8 (1) ........260.8 (2)........229.2 (11)
Alabama..236.8 (1)........55.0 (3) ........150.8 (11) ......188.2 (8)
Source: SEC

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MORENO VS. COFFEE
Two of SEC's best runners in action
Georgia's Knowshon Moreno and Alabama's Glen Coffee rank second and third in the SEC in rushing yards per game. The league's top three rushers (based on average per game):
Player, team..............Games..Att...Yds...Yds./att...Yds./game
Charles Scott, LSU........3......44....394 ..9.0........131.3
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia..4......69....455 ..6.6........113.8
Glen Coffee, Alabama......4......47....404 ..8.6........101.0
Source: SEC

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THE COACHES
Same old foe, new team for Saban
Coach, team..........As college ..In current job ..Vs. today's
 ....................head coach ....................opponent
Nick Saban, Alabama..102-48-1 ....11-6 ............2-1
Mark Richt, Georgia..76-19........76-19............3-0
(Note: Saban's 2-1 record vs. Georgia was as LSU head coach.)