Jermaine Burton, Trezmen Marshall facing former team in SEC title game

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s matchup with Georgia in the SEC Championship Game will be a reunion for a couple of Crimson Tide players who started their careers in Athens.

Senior wide receiver Jermaine Burton spent his first two collegiate seasons as a Bulldog before entering the NCAA transfer portal and continuing his playing career in Tuscaloosa. Burton was Georgia’s third-leading receiver as a freshman in 2020 and second the next year as he helped the Dawgs top Alabama in the 2021 national championship game as a sophomore.

“I know he was a really good player when he was here,” said Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. “To be two years removed from that, the impact he had in that national championship game against Alabama, to have two years under his belt and grow as a player, we know how talented he is. Certainly has a lot of ability.”

Burton has been Alabama’s No. 1 receiver in terms of yardage and touchdowns this fall and will look to keep up his impressive play of late against his former team on Saturday in Atlanta.

Through 12 games, Burton has hauled in 33 passes and turned them into 749 yards and seven touchdowns. His 22.7 yards per reception average leads the SEC and ranks second nationally after the regular-season slate. Burton has three, 100-yard games this year, including two in his last two outings. According to his quarterback, that started back in the summer.

“He had a great offseason, and that’s contributed to any success that took place during the season,” Jalen Milroe said. “I think his offseason was really good. He was really detail-oriented. He came to work every single day ready to compete, ready to get better, and I think that he did a really good job challenging himself to be the best receiver he can be.”

Burton has played well for the Crimson Tide this fall, but Alabama still wants to see him do it on a more consistent basis, whether that is in games, at practice and everywhere in between. But landing him from the portal has proven to be a good call for Nick Saban and company.

“Jermaine has done a really good job for us, and we continue to harp on consistency in performance all the time,” Saban said on Monday. “He’s been very productive for us. 

“We played against him (at Georgia), and we thought he was a good player when we played against him, so that was probably the reason for our interest in him to start with. And he hasn’t disappointed us with his performance on the field. We continue to work on his ability to stay focused on do your job well, create value every play in terms of what you do and be consistent in your performance. And he’s certainly made strides in that direction.”

The biggest thing on Saturday against Georgia will be for Burton to keep his emotions in check. His teammates believe he has grown, but there will be no lack of motivation for the former UGA player when he faces it for the first time for the SEC title at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I’ve seen Jermaine grow a lot just from a maturity standpoint and him trying to be a leader and leading by example,” defensive back Malachi Moore said. “I talked to him about the game, I asked him, ‘You ain’t never played against them, have you?’ He was like, ‘Nah.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ 

“So Maine is probably going to be a little hyped and little emotional this game – but in the right way, not emotional in a bad way.”

Marshall also facing former team

In addition to Burton, there is another former Bulldog who will be playing his old team. Trezmen Marshall was at Georgia for four seasons before choosing to enter the portal and then joining Alabama’s program this offseason. The linebacker played in 35 games at UGA and was part of two national championship teams but was hampered by injuries throughout his career. 

Now with the Crimson Tide, Marshall has rotated at the inside ‘backer spots in the middle of the Alabama defense. He is seventh on the team in tackles with 50 and has recorded 3.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry in his 11 games played during this season.

“Trez, he’s been doing a great job each and every week, getting better and better,” Moore said. “I feel like he’s getting more comfortable with us. That just comes with chemistry, at the end of the day, and just make sure we’re communicating and talking about what adjustments we need to make and where the safeties are coming down, when the linebackers need to slide over and anything like that.”

Added inside linebacker Deontae Lawson, “I think Trez is great. He always is fired up, I think. Just seeing him grow throughout the year has been great. He’s coming to work every day, and he’s doing whatever he can to help the team.”

Much like Burton, Marshall could have some extra motivation back in his home state.

“On the bus ride back from Auburn, I was talking to Trez about it,” Moore said. “He probably is going to be a little more emotional or something like that for playing against his former team.”

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