Somewhere in the multiverse, a Carson Beck-led Alabama team is taking on Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Championship while UA fans hope for a Jalen Milroe-led Texas Longhorns program to lose for a potential berth. But that path diverted three years ago.

It was February of 2020 and the Crimson Tide had lost the national championship to Clemson and Nick Saban’s staff underwent turnover at offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, among others. Beck — Florida’s Mr. Football award who had committed to Alabama seven months prior — told AL.com he had “no one to talk to” when he called Tuscaloosa. He wanted to meet with the new coaches, but then his childhood favorite Bulldogs gave him a call.

The rest is history. Current Alabama starter Jalen Milroe flipped from home-state Texas in August, giving the Tide its class of 2021 thrower. One month later, the Tide was able to flip a 2020 quarterback: Bryce Young, a five-star and eventual Heisman Award winner who had been committed to his home state USC Trojans. On Saturday, with Young now in the NFL, Beck will play the Tide for the first time and Milroe will lead Alabama in an attempt to end Georgia’s 29-game winning streak.

Ahead of the meeting, Beck was asked about his relationship with the Tide and Alabama coach Nick Saban.

“That was a long time ago, but obviously (Saban is) a great coach, one of the greatest of all time. Just stern with it, sets a standard,” Beck said. “It’s a very similar program to Georgia and the things that we believe in, the ideals. But obviously Coach Saban is a great coach, and I have tons of respect for him.”

Beck’s road to a starter loosely mirrors Milroe’s. Both replaced quarterbacks of national acclaim, in Beck’s case he filled the shoes of Stetson Bennett, a two-time champion. Both Beck and Milroe also had to earn the starting job heading into this fall. Beck cited Georgia’s Week 3 second-half comeback against South Carolina as a turning point for the offenses. Milroe took the reigns officially in Week 4 after being benched at South Florida.

Together, the pair have flirted with Heisman contention. Milroe has produced 33 total touchdowns to Beck’s 25. Beck is completing 72.4% of passes with six interceptions. Tide defensive back Malachi Moore said Beck executes run-pass options well with good ball placement. Beck has managed multiple touchdown passes in four of his last five outings while Georgia’s top playmaker Brock Bowers and other offensive starters have battled injuries.

“Georgia’s got a really, really good offensive team and the quarterback obviously does a fantastic job of, whether they’re running the ball, carrying out fakes, play action passes, dropback passes, I mean he is very efficient and effective in everything he does,” Saban said. “He’s very accurate with the ball. He’s smart, throws it the right place. So he does a great job of implementing of exactly what they want to do. And they have a really, really good scheme.”

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