President Donald Trump will attend the Trump Georgia Alabama game on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, he announced Friday night at a rally at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. The No. 2 Bulldogs visit the No. 7 Crimson Tide in a key SEC showdown.
“We love Alabama,” Trump told the crowd. “In fact, we love it so much I’ll be here again next Saturday to watch a football game between Georgia and Alabama.”
Trump Georgia Alabama game: kickoff and history
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT at Bryant-Denny Stadium, with the game airing on ABC. ESPN’s “College GameDay” is expected to be on site, according to Sports Illustrated, though the network had not officially confirmed it.
Trump attended Texas’ win over Tennessee in Knoxville last weekend. It will be the third time he has watched Georgia and Alabama play. He was at the 2018 national championship game, which Alabama won in overtime, and at the Crimson Tide’s late comeback against the Bulldogs in 2024.
Georgia is coming off a 41-13 win over Oklahoma, and the matchup looms large in the SEC resume race. For more on the weekend slate, see our Week 5 college football roundup.
Headset worries for coaches
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said security protocols cut off coaches’ headsets, including coach-to-player communication, whenever the president enters, leaves or moves around a stadium. He said teams must plan for those blackouts because there is no advance warning, according to Fox Sports.
The issue surfaced at January’s national title game, which Indiana won 27-21 over Miami. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said that when Trump left around the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter, his defense could not hear for two or three plays.
Reports have also noted that Miami’s final interception came well after Trump had left the stadium. The Texas-Tennessee game last week went on with no apparent disruption to coaches’ communications, per the Associated Press.
Security and fan delays
University of Tennessee police urged fans to arrive far earlier than normal and expect delays before Trump’s visit to Neyland Stadium. Similar entry delays were reported at earlier Alabama-Georgia games he attended, so fans in Tuscaloosa should plan to arrive early.
