Georgia vs. Alabama

Georgia’s bigger, better-educated, more mobile, wealthier and healthier than Alabama. Face it, the state to the left of us physically is probably to the right of us politically, but it’s definitely behind us in just about every other respect. Now, if someone will just inform the Crimson Tide… .

In the air and on the ground

Major airports Total passengers, 2014

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta 96.2 million (No. 1 in the world)

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth 2.6 million (No. 1 in Alabama)

Sources: the two airports

Total interstate miles

Georgia 1,253

Alabama 1,035

Source: Federal Highway Administration

Population demographics

2014 population estimate

Georgia 10.1 million

Alabama 4.8 million

Largest metropolitan area by population

Atlanta metro area 5.3 million

Birmingham metro area 1.1 million

Median household income, 2013

Georgia $49,179

Alabama $43,253

Poverty rate, 2014

Georgia 18.3%

Alabama 19.3%

Median value, owner-occupied housing, 2009-2013

Georgia $151,300

Alabama $122,500

Building permits, 2014

Georgia 39,423

Alabama 13,369

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Education measures

High school graduates, people older than 25, 2009-2013

Georgia 84.7%

Alabama 83.1%

Bachelor’s degree or higher, people older than 25, 2009-2013

Georgia 28.0%

Alabama 22.6%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

% of students

SAT, 2014 Scores Rank % taking test

Georgia 1,445 45 77.2%

Alabama 1,617 22 6.7%

Source: Commonwealth Foundation

4-year graduation rates

University of Georgia 61%

University of Alabama 39%

Source: U.S. News & World Report

Health statistics

Deaths in 2013

per 100,000 pop. Heart disease Cancer Lung disease

Georgia 165.6 164.3 41.8

Alabama 258.0 213.7 63.0

Adult obesity rate, 2013

Georgia 30.3%

Alabama 32.4%

Diabetes rate among adults, 2013

Georgia 10.8%

Alabama 13.8%

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Size

Land area in square miles

Georgia 57,513

Alabama 50,645

The Game:

No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 8 University of Georgia

3:30 p.m. at Sanford Stadium

CBS will televise the game

UGA, 4-0 so far this season, is the favorite over Alabama 3-1

If you’re heading to the game bring an umbrella. The National Weather Service is predicting a 100 percent chance of rain in Athens.

Natinal Weather Ser

The Game:

No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 8 University of Georgia

3:30 p.m. at Sanford Stadium

CBS will televise the game

UGA, 4-0 so far this season, is the favorite over Alabama 3-1

If you’re heading to the game, bring an umbrella. The National Weather Service is predicting a 100 percent chance of rain in Athens.

Dearly beloved, let us gather, for this is a moment most sacred.

Gather with elbow on bar where fellow faithful howl. Gather ‘round flatscreen with pretzels and prayers. Gather where they wear Georgia red and black, or Alabama crimson. Be ready to tell those other guys to go to hell.

Brothers and sisters, the time has come. Choose your side of the aisle, and enter the temple of football.

The University of Georgia plays the University of Alabama Saturday. You may have heard about it.

The gentlemen from Georgia are hosts to the young men from Alabama. After a few handshakes and other niceties, the Bulldogs (Georgia) and the Crimson Tide (the other guys) will proceed to bash heads. If an occasional uncharitable word is uttered, remember: this is big-time football in the Southeastern Conference. Verily, the stakes are high.

Call this the hottest show in at least two states, because these SEC powerhouse rivals meet only every few years or so. Getting into the game could burn a hole in your wallet, too. Tickets for prime seats on the so-called secondary market were going for up to $470 Friday — and that was with rain forecast.

Gary Louis, how will this game shake out?

Louis lives in Tuscaloosa. He owns Rama Jama's, a restaurant whose patrons dine in the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium. The only way you can get a beer any closer to Alabama's home field is to smuggle in a brew in your pants.

Yes, Alabama is smarting from an upset loss a few weeks back. No, that does not mean a low Tide Saturday.

“I’m optimistic every time we play football,” said Louis. “You can say I’m quietly optimistic.”

No, you can’t because no, he’s not. Louis likes to talk Alabama football.

He remembers growing up in Montgomery. His earliest memories include listening to Alabama games — he, his dad and uncle on the front porch, leaning over a transistor radio. How could such a little box contain such huge heroics?

Since then, he has been a Tide fanatic. Like thousands of others, he ground his teeth Sept. 19 when Alabama lost — lost! — its SEC opener to Ole Miss. Ole Miss?!?

Let’s toss some salt into this wound: Alabama is the underdog to the Dawgs.

“We’re used to winning,” Louis said. “When we don’t win, it’s devastating.”

Devastation is a possibility, said Loren Smith, of Athens. He’s a 1962 UGA graduate who briefly spent some time in Atlanta before deciding it was too far away from his alma mater. “My heart,” he said, “is in Athens.”

His butt will be in a seat at Sanford Stadium — yea, brethren, another temple — Saturday. Smith hasn’t missed many UGA games.

A Georgia victory won’t be easy, he predicted. The Crimson Tide, still smarting over that loss to Ole Miss, needs a win to remain in the running for the SEC crown, he said.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban recruits big, tough players. Georgia coach Mark Richt will need an aerial assault to win, Smith thinks.

“If we throw the ball successfully we have a great chance to win,” he said. “We’ll have to play above our heads.”

Or check with Tony Barnhart, who knows a few things about this series. A former AJC sports reporter, Barnhart has been writing about football for decades. He's seen a few UGA-Bama games. Some had a happy ending, with Athens in joyous tumult.

Others? Consider the “blackout” game. Remember? In 2008, Richt outfitted his guys in black for the Alabama game. When the black-clad Dawgs chugged onto the field, they looked like an army of steam locomotives.

‘Bama promptly put out their fire. Score: Tide 41, Dawgs 30.

“Boy,” said Barnhart, “that was ugly.”

The best Georgia win over Alabama? Maybe that 1965 game when UGA came back to retire the Tide, 18-17.

What made that win so sweet? Let's check with the guy who had a sideline view, Vince Dooley.

Yes, that Dooley. The previous year, said Dooley, he was a new coach. In 1964, his first game at the helm of the Bulldogs was against that bunch from Tuscaloosa. His Dawgs would be chasing a quarterback named Namath, first name Joe. He would match wits against a guy named Bryant, nickname "Bear." In the temple at Tuscaloosa, people still whisper that name.

Dooley was 31 when Georgia hired him. He had a young man’s optimism. His team shared it.

That optimism — the team, too — got trampled that day. Score: ‘Bama 31, Georgia 3.

That whooping, Dooley recalled, was the equivalent of a slap in the face; the Bulldogs were suddenly wide awake. “It taught us to be a good football team by the end of that season,” he said.

A year later, the Dawgs repaid that favor. Even now, talking about it a half-century later, Dooley had a smile in his voice.

OK. The seconds are ticking down to kickoff. Dear reader, don your attire — Dawg or Tide, that’s up to you — and gather your fellow believers.

The temple doors are about to open.