The Alabama Crimson Tide is coming off its bye week and now facing what very well may be the toughest and most important test so far of the Kalen DeBoer era.

Entering the year with national title aspirations, things obviously went horribly in the first week of the season with an embarrassing defeat on the road in Tallahassee against the Florida State Seminoles which put things in perspective.

The next two weeks brought much more success — albeit against weak opponents — as the focus turned to the bye week and a significant road test this week now in Athens against Georgia.

Alabama is headed to Sanford Stadium for the first time in a decade and puts their no losses in the regular season to the Bulldogs since 2007 on the line. The stakes are clear in terms of this season as the Tide can’t afford a second loss before September, but it goes a whole lot deeper than that.

Beyond an outlier in Baton Rouge last year, DeBoer’s teams have struggled in road environments and not been able to take care of business. This will be the biggest test they have faced — both in terms of crowd and opponent — since his arrival.

DeBoer may have bought himself some time after the last two weeks, but there is a not insignificant portion of the fanbase ready to turn on him should things go poorly the rest of the way. With the difficulty of the schedule, this is not only a must-win game to keep the goals on track for this year, it’s a must-win game for DeBoer to stay in the good graces of the fanbase and administration.

Should Alabama lose a close one, nobody is going to be calling for his head, but if DeBoer’s team gets dominated by Kirby Smart’s, that noise is going to get a whole lot louder.

On paper, DeBoer has just as good if not a better roster than Smart and there’s no reason why Alabama can’t win this game.

It’s not fair to say it’s a win or else type matchup this early, but it is fair to say that should the Tide not perform at all, many are going to be out on this head coach and his staff.

DeBoer knows the challenge that awaits him and his team, and he’s likely starting to figure out the stakes that come with it as well. This is an absolutely massive challenge and perhaps the most important he’s faced so far in Tuscaloosa.

Time will tell how he responds.