After the hectic end to the 2023 Iron Bowl and Alabama’s postgame celebration, Tide players, some in walking boots, nearly all in gray ‘UA’ jumpsuits, piled into buses.

While on the road, senior Malachi Moore cozied up to first-year UA linebacker Trezmen Marshall. Moore also found wide receiver Jermaine Burton. Among the chatter, there was something Moore wanted to confirm.

“You ain’t ever played against them, have you?”

‘Them’ is referring to No. 1 Georgia (12-0, 8-0 SEC), a team Moore has faced thrice in his Alabama career. Burton was on the field when UGA and the Tide met last, just playing for the Bulldogs. So was Marshall for all three dating back to 2020: two SEC title games and a National Championship rematch. For the first time this weekend, both Burton and Marshall will play against their former teams since transferring.

“Yeah, ‘maine, he probably going to be a little hype and a little emotional in this game,” Moore said of Burton on Monday before chucking and catching himself. “But in the right way, not emotional in the bad way.”

The ‘bad way’ is something their coach Nick Saban has emphasized avoiding in the back half of the season with rivalry games against Tennessee, LSU and Auburn last weekend. The Tide will face another electric environment this weekend in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the Bulldogs. That will be heightened for Marshall and Burton, both of whom flipped from one side of a burgeoning rivalry to the other and will look to get No. 8 Alabama (11-1, 8-0) a possible spot in the CFP.

Burton has been known for playing with fire in his two seasons in Tuscaloosa. He’s jawed at multiple opposing cornerbacks, including during his career day against Texas A&M. His 197 yards and two touchdowns came with a personal foul penalty. Burton could also be seen enjoying the Auburn win by standing on a team bench and screaming toward the stands in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I mentioned earlier about having passion to play and not getting overly emotional where you don’t make good decisions and choices, whether it’s because you put pressure on yourself or trying to make plays or whatever,” said Saban. ” … And for the most part, we’ve been doing a great job with that.

“Sometimes when you want to win a game really, really bad you get outcome-oriented, that sort of leads to those kind of emotional surges that can create some issues as a competitor.”

Burton and Marshall have had very productive seasons in key roles. Burton is Alabama’s leading receiver and Milroe’s favorite target. He has 33 catches in 11 games for 749 yards and seven touchdowns. Marshall ranks seventh on the Tide with 50 total tackles and has handled some play-calling duties when Deontae Lawson has been injured.

Moore said he’s seen Burton become more mature, while Marshall is getting more comfortable communicating with the secondary. Marshall said after helping the Tide to a road win over Mississippi State on Sept. 30 that learning Saban and Kirby Smart’s defense is more about understanding concepts to apply to situations and “you’re gonna have a bust here and there” while learning.

“I love it,” Marshall said of his transition to Alabama in October. “I love coach Saban. I love him. It’s crazy how much I love him. Just being here, I found out really this is a tradition school. Everything here is traditional. I like that. I love that about this school.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].