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Paul Finebaum points to ‘massive’ stakes for Kalen DeBoer vs. Georgia

Cory Nightingale

By Cory Nightingale

Published:

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Paul Finebaum doesn’t believe in any honeymoons, especially when you’re the new head coach at Alabama.

The ESPN college football analyst went on ‘Get Up’ on Wednesday morning and when asked by host Mike Greenberg what Kalen DeBoer’s 1st “Game of the Century” as Crimson Tide coach means to him, Finebaum went big and bold about Saturday night’s showdown in Tuscaloosa between the 4th-ranked Crimson Tide and 2nd-ranked Georgia.

“It’s massive, and some of it is because of the perception. Going into the season, I thought Georgia would be a much bigger favorite, but they have played poorly, nearly losing to Kentucky,” Finebaum said. “Alabama has looked great, and DeBoer has had a seamless transition, which is almost inconceivable considering he was replacing Nick Saban. But he’s done almost everything right, and the (Alabama) fans right now cannot accept the fact that things have changed, that (they think) they are still in charge of college football.

“I don’t want to tell them they’re not, that Texas is actually No. 1. But the real problem is that a loss here would be a shock to the system, and Mondays after an Alabama loss are like nothing else, because they’ve happened so infrequently under Nick Saban.”

https://twitter.com/GetUpESPN/status/1838930303752028417

The kickoff at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium will be a little after 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.

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