Kalen DeBoer and the No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide will travel to Athens for a top-25 SEC clash against Kirby Smart and the No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.
And when they do, a pair of key contributors will be making their season debuts.
Alabama opened the 2025 college football season with a disastrous 31-17 loss to the Florida State Seminoles. Since then, the team bounced back with dominant victories over UL Monroe and Wisconsin.
The Crimson Tide had the week off this past weekend, allowing their injured players some extra time to recover. Now, both running back Jam Miller and defensive lineman Tim Keenan III are expected to make their 2025 debuts against the Bulldogs this weekend.
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Miller has been out with a collarbone injury, but DeBoer expects him to be back on the field for Saturday’s matchup against Georgia.
“I do expect him to go. He practiced yesterday,” DeBoer said on Monday.
“Jam’s a complete back all around. He’s someone that we trust at the highest level. He’s just been super consistent as a pass protector, not just as a guy who can carry the football.”
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Keenan injured his ankle before the Crimson Tide’s season-opening loss to Florida State. Now recovered from his “tightrope” surgery, the veteran DL will return to the field on Saturday.
“He was voted team captain for a reason,” DeBoer said of Keenan. “So the energy he’s brought the last even two to three weeks, just his juice, and he’s that way naturally. He loves this place. I think his perspective of being on the sideline has brought another level of energy to him that our defense and our whole team has responded to.
“And then on top of it, he’s a big anchor, big body in there that can kind of hold down the line of scrimmage, get a push in the pocket on pass plays. So, it’s good to have him back, and he’s had a couple good days here, continued to build here through the week of practice is what we’re expecting.”
Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET.
