Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach of all time. He is the person that Kirby Smart is chasing, but there are a lot more championships that he needs to win if he is ever going to pass Saban.
Smart took a big step in the right direction in catching Saban two weeks ago when he defeated Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Georgia however didn't just beat Alabama, they dominated them as they were in complete control of the game all night en route to their 28-7 victory.
Saban finally spoke about that game during ESPN's College GameDay on Friday, and he shared how deflating it was watching Alabama play that poorly.
"One thing that I prided ourselves in, when we played Georgia in the SEC championship game, it was two physical teams. It was disappointing to me to see how much more physical Georgia's team was in the SEC championship game than Alabama's was.”
Nick Saban to @CollegeGameDay: "One thing that I prided ourselves in, when we played Georgia in the SEC championship game, it was two physical teams. It was disappointing to me to see how much more physical Georgia's team was in the SEC championship game than Alabama's was.…
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) December 19, 2025
Nick Saban felt deflated watching Georgia beat Alabama
Georgia did everything right in their win over Alabama two weeks ago. The controlled the Tide in every facet of the game, but it was their physicality that dominated the storyline in Atlanta.
Georgia was the far more physical team during this matchup in Atlanta. This was especially seen in the trenches on both sides of the ball as their offensive line was able to get a nice push all game. But it was their defensive line that played even better as they held the Tide to negative rushing yards.
This Alabama team looked nothing like the Crimson Tide teams that Saban coached. But that is the biggest reason why Georgia was able to win this game. Smart and UGA took away what makes Alabama who they are, and that is why Saban felt so deflated while watching that game.