Georgia opens as slight favorite over Alabama among wild SEC betting lines

ATHENS — Kirby Smart said he’d like to say Georgia is “operating on all cylinders” after five games this season and that his team is completely healthy, but the Bulldogs coach ultimately concluded Saturday that “I’m very pleased with where we’re at.”

Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a 7:30 p.m. game Saturday against an Alabama team (5-0, 3-0) that does appear to be operating on all cylinders but opened as a 1½-point underdog.

As good as the Bulldogs have looked beating up on unranked opponents, the team would be even better with some luck with its portal transfers.

Three key offseason additions have been sidelined: former Auburn edge Amaris Williams (ACL, out indefinitely), former Kentucky tailback Dante Dowdell (ATV accident) and former Georgia Tech receiver Isiah Canion, who has not played in the past two games after leaving the Arkansas game with a leg injury after the opening drive.

The Bulldogs have substituted liberally in their blowout games, however, and have built some experience into the team’s depth.

Smart noted UGA’s win over Vanderbilt, in which Georgia held a 21-14 halftime lead, provided the best test of the season.

“We really needed this kind of game; tough, physical, hard-fought,” Smart said. “Punch, punch back, punch, punch back because that’s how you play in the SEC. So I was proud of our guys for that.

“Probably played the most complete game we’ve played so far in terms of all the way around and responded well in the second half.”