As No. 1 Georgia prepares to take on No. 8 Alabama in the SEC Championship, former Bulldog David Pollack didn’t hold back with his assessment of the two powerhouse programs.
To Pollack, Georgia has a clear advantage with head coach Kirby Smart at the helm. That statement wouldn’t be a stretch if anyone else other than Nick Saban, a seven-time national champion, stood on the opposite sideline.
Pollack joined former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray and former LSU center T-Bob Herbert on the “Snaps” podcast to breakdown his opinion.
“The better coach is clearly Kirby Smart. Clearly,” Pollack said. “Now I have enough evidence. They’re not going to get penalties. They’re not going to turn the football over. They’re not going to beat themselves. What have we seen from Nick Saban and Alabama the past several years? That discipline that we once saw that was elite of elite has eroded. Penalties up, turnovers have been more consistent.”
What Pollack thinks does have statistical backing in regards to penalties. Georgia is tied for 12th in the country with 4.3 penalties per game, while the Crimson Tide sits 66th with six per game.
That said, Alabama actually has a better turnover margin (plus-7) than the Bulldogs (0).
What Smart does have under his belt, beyond back-to-back national titles. is a stretch of 29 straight wins (SEC record). Saban’s best stretch at Alabama was 19 straight wins (twice).
Kickoff in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium is slated for 4 p.m. ET, televised on CBS.