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College Football · Last Decade Rivalry Analysis
Alabama vs Georgia — Last Decade Matchup Analysis
From the 2018 overtime classic to the December 2025 SEC Championship blowout, ten games. Alabama leads the recent series 8-2, but the last one ended Kirby Smart's career-long Alabama curse. Here is what the last ten years actually show.
- Alabama has won 8 of the last 10 meetings per the official Crimson Tide athletics records. Six of those ten games were SEC or CFP National Championship games.
- Georgia's only two wins came in the 2022 College Football Playoff Final (33-18) and the 2025 SEC Championship Game (28-7). Both ended Alabama winning streaks.
- Kirby Smart was 1-7 against Alabama before the December 6, 2025 SEC title game blowout. The Smart-versus-Saban era is over; the Smart-versus-DeBoer era just began.
For most of the last decade, this rivalry has produced exactly two outcomes. Either Alabama beats Georgia, or Georgia beats Alabama for the first time in a way that changes everything. The 2022 College Football Playoff Final fit the second pattern. The December 6, 2025 SEC Championship Game fit it again. Eight of the ten games in between fit the first pattern.
That contrast is the entire story. The rivalry has been one of the most prestigious in college football for the last ten years because the games matter, not because they're competitive. Per the official Alabama athletics records, six of the last ten meetings have come in either the SEC Championship Game or the College Football Playoff Final. No other current rivalry in the sport has produced that kind of stage density.
The last 10 meetings, game by game
Here are the ten Alabama-Georgia games that have defined the modern rivalry, from October 2015 through the December 2025 SEC Championship.
Two patterns jump off the table. First, the dates. Six of the ten games are championship games. Second, the close ones. Five of the ten were decided by single digits, three of them by a field goal or less. Alabama's dominance in the win column doesn't show up in the scoreboard until the games turn into routs. When they're competitive, this is the closest, hardest rivalry in college football.
The Saban era vs the DeBoer era
The decade splits into two clean coaching halves. From 2015 through 2023, Nick Saban coached every Alabama side of this rivalry. From 2024 onward, Kalen DeBoer has. Both coaches got Georgia's best shot. Only one of them ever lost the rivalry on his own terms.
7 wins, 1 loss vs Smart
2-1 vs Smart through 2025
The personal layer here runs deeper than the scoreboard. Kirby Smart worked as Saban's assistant at Alabama from 2007 to 2015 before taking the Georgia head coaching job. Five of Smart's seven losses to Alabama came against his former boss. The December 2025 win was Smart's most lopsided victory over the Tide since 1976, per ESPN, and it came against a different coach. The mentor was already gone. The shadow finally lifted.
The 2022 national title pivot
The single most important game in the rivalry's last decade is also the one Georgia won.
Georgia 33, Alabama 18 — the first national title since 1980
Five weeks after losing the SEC Championship Game 41-24 to Alabama, Georgia got a rematch in the College Football Playoff Final. Kirby Smart's defense smothered the Bryce Young-led Alabama offense, and Georgia won 33-18 to claim its first national championship since the Herschel Walker era. The game ended a 41-year title drought and began a new era in which Smart's program would win two national titles in two years (2021 and 2022 seasons). The 2022 win remains Smart's defining career moment.
Everything that has happened since 2022 traces back to one rematch in Indianapolis. Georgia's back-to-back titles. Smart's elevation into the conversation with Saban as a peer rather than protégé. Alabama's coaching transition. The December 2025 blowout. Per ESPN, before the December 2025 SEC title game, Smart's teams were 0-3 against Alabama when leading at halftime and 90-1 against all other teams in the same scenario. The 2022 national title was the breakthrough that didn't repeat for nearly four years.
Alabama owns the decade. Georgia owns the two games that mattered most. Both things can be true. Both things are.
Five games that defined the decade
The full list is ten games. These are the five that explain the rest.
Alabama 26, Georgia 23 in overtime — Tua to DeVonta
Trailing 13-0 at halftime, Saban benched starter Jalen Hurts and inserted freshman Tua Tagovailoa. In overtime, Tua threw a 41-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith to win the national title. Per Sports Illustrated, this was the moment that defined the early phase of the modern rivalry. Smart's first try at Saban produced one of the most heartbreaking losses in Georgia history.
Alabama 35, Georgia 28 — the 14-point comeback
Eleven months later, in the SEC Championship rematch, Georgia led 28-14 in the third quarter. Then Alabama came back, scoring 21 unanswered points. Per ESPN, this remained the biggest comeback in SEC Championship Game history until the December 2025 game. It also entrenched the narrative that Alabama owned the rivalry no matter what Georgia did to win.
Georgia 33, Alabama 18 — the title that broke the curse
Five weeks after losing the SEC Championship to Alabama, Georgia got the rematch. The Bulldogs won 33-18 to capture their first national title since 1980. Per ESPN, this was the win that began Smart's run of four national titles by his teams and ended Saban's seven-game winning streak in the rivalry. The single most important game in the recent decade.
Alabama 27, Georgia 24 — Saban's last win in the rivalry
Saban's final SEC Championship Game as Alabama head coach. The Tide upset the No. 1 Bulldogs 27-24 to spoil Georgia's bid for a third straight national title. Per the available recaps, this was Saban's last win over Smart before retiring after the 2023 season. The rivalry's most important coaching change was already coming; this was the last act of the previous era.
Georgia 28, Alabama 7 — Smart's first SEC title over Alabama
Per ESPN, Gunner Stockton threw three touchdown passes as the No. 3 Bulldogs pounded the No. 10 Crimson Tide 28-7 in the SEC Championship. It was Smart's first SEC title game win over Alabama after going 0-4. It was Georgia's most lopsided win in the rivalry since 1976. Stockton was named MVP. The DeBoer era's first defining moment was a 21-point loss in the conference title game.
What wins this matchup, what loses it
Across ten games, the same factors keep showing up. The teams that win it have done these things; the teams that lose it have not.
What wins for Alabama
- Elite quarterback play in big moments. Tua, Bryce Young, and Jalen Milroe all had defining wins; the 2025 loss came with Ty Simpson at QB.
- A hot start on offense. DeBoer's two regular-season wins both featured first-half leads that Alabama defended into the fourth quarter.
- Discipline in the trenches. Alabama's offensive line has historically held up against Smart's defense better than any other SEC offense.
- Coaching adjustments at halftime. The 2018 SEC Championship comeback remains the template.
What wins for Georgia
- A defensive identity. Both Georgia wins (2022 NC and 2025 SEC) featured Alabama under 20 points.
- Game-changing special teams plays. The blocked punt in the 2025 SEC title game led to Georgia's first touchdown.
- A second chance. Smart's teams are 4-0 in rematches per ESPN, including the 2022 NC game and 2025 SEC title.
- Veteran quarterback poise. Stetson Bennett in 2022 and Gunner Stockton in 2025 both played composed, mistake-free football.
What history says to expect next
The 2026 season is months away. The structural facts of the rivalry are unlikely to change. Alabama under Kalen DeBoer remains a top-tier SEC program. Georgia under Kirby Smart remains the most consistent program in college football. The next meeting will almost certainly carry SEC or playoff implications. The next meeting after that probably will too.
What changed in December 2025 was the psychology. Smart spent eight years working for Saban, then nine years losing to him. The mentor retired. Smart finally got the SEC title game win against Alabama that had defined his career as the missing piece. That door is open now. Whether Georgia walks through it again, or Alabama slams it shut, is the question that the next decade of this rivalry will answer.
The last ten years told one story: Alabama 8, Georgia 2, with Georgia winning the two games that mattered most. The next ten years are going to tell a different one. The score isn't pre-decided anymore.
Watch the halftime score.
The single most predictive number in an Alabama-Georgia game is the score at halftime. Per ESPN, before December 6, 2025, Smart's Georgia teams were 0-3 against Alabama when leading at halftime, and 90-1 against all other opponents in the same scenario. That curse finally broke when the Bulldogs held a halftime lead and converted it into a 21-point win. Going forward, the new pattern to track is whether Georgia can defend halftime leads as well as it builds them. If they can, the rivalry's center of gravity has shifted permanently.
Alabama vs Georgia FAQ
What is Alabama's record against Georgia in the last 10 meetings?
Per Alabama's official athletics records, the Crimson Tide have won 8 of the last 10 meetings between October 3, 2015 and December 6, 2025. Georgia's two wins came in the January 10, 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game (33-18) and the December 6, 2025 SEC Championship Game (28-7). Six of the ten games were SEC or CFP title games.
What is Alabama's all-time record against Georgia?
Alabama leads the all-time series 45-27-4, dating back to the first meeting on November 2, 1895. Per Alabama athletics, the Crimson Tide hold a 24-13-4 record at home, a 16-12 record on the road, and a 4-1 record on neutral fields against the Bulldogs. The largest margin of victory in the series is Alabama's 36-0 win on November 24, 1923.
What was Kirby Smart's record against Alabama before December 2025?
Per ESPN, Smart was 1-7 against Alabama in his career as Georgia head coach before the December 6, 2025 SEC Championship Game. Five of those seven losses came against his former boss Nick Saban, who Smart worked for as an assistant at Alabama from 2007 to 2015. The lone win was the January 10, 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The December 6, 2025 win moved Smart to 2-7.
What happened in the December 2025 SEC Championship Game?
No. 3 Georgia beat No. 10 Alabama 28-7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 6, 2025. Per ESPN, Gunner Stockton threw three touchdown passes and was named MVP. It was Georgia's first SEC title game win over Alabama in five tries under Smart and the Bulldogs' most lopsided win against the Tide since a 21-0 victory on October 2, 1976. It was also Georgia's second consecutive SEC championship, the first time the Bulldogs have won back-to-back SEC titles since Herschel Walker's teams from 1980 to 1982.
Has Kalen DeBoer beaten Georgia?
Yes, twice in the regular season. DeBoer's first meeting with Georgia was on September 28, 2024 in Tuscaloosa, a 41-34 Alabama win in which the Tide built a 30-7 halftime lead. His second was on September 27, 2025 in Athens, a 24-21 Alabama win. DeBoer's first loss to Georgia came in the December 6, 2025 SEC Championship Game rematch (28-7), making his record against Smart 2-1 entering the 2026 season.
Which Alabama-Georgia game was the most memorable of the decade?
Two games stand out. The January 8, 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship saw Alabama come back from 13-0 down with freshman Tua Tagovailoa replacing Jalen Hurts, winning 26-23 in overtime on Tua's 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. The January 10, 2022 CFP National Championship saw Georgia beat Alabama 33-18 to win its first national title since 1980, ending a 41-year drought and launching Smart's program into back-to-back championships. Different fans pick different games. Both are defining moments of college football's last decade.
Sources
- Alabama Athletics — Official all-time record vs Georgia and last 10 matchups data through Dec 6, 2025
- StatMuse — Alabama vs Georgia football record in the last 10 years
- AiScore — Alabama vs Georgia H2H record, PPG averages, and last-5 detail
- ESPN — Georgia 28-7 Alabama (Dec 6, 2025) full recap and Smart's career record vs Alabama
- ESPN — Gunner Stockton leads Georgia past Alabama for SEC title (Dec 2025)
- CBS Sports — Georgia 28-7 SEC Championship coverage and DeBoer-era context
- Sports Illustrated — Alabama vs Georgia all-time head-to-head and 2018 CFP Final context
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