Nick Saban famously fought against the rat poison of college football throughout his entire career, specifically with the Alabama Crimson Tide. So, coming off of his former team taking down the Georgia Bulldogs last week and ending the Dawgs' 33-game home winning streak in Athens, it only stands to reason that the unrivaled GOAT of college football coaching made sure to insinuate that being taken down might ultimately be what's best for Kirby Smart and his team as a proverbial wake-up call.
During a Friday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban put forth his belief that Georgia simply got complacent playing at home during the winning streak. He likened it to when things of a similar nature happened in his coaching tenure, and how his teams would begin to take winning at home for granted simply because it'd been so long since they'd lost on their home turf.
“Honestly, when you win all the time at home, sometimes I thought as a coach that it wasn’t always an advantage. There are a lot of distractions. And when you win all the time, the players start thinking, ‘We’re at home, we’re going to win.' They lose respect for what it takes to win, regardless of where you’re playing. They had won what, 30-some games in a row at home? Maybe the players got a little complacent about that.”
Simply from a human element, that stands to reason. It's hard for a group of dozens upon dozens of 18-to-22-year-olds to not look at a 33-game winning streak and not view it as something that's expected, not something that's earned, each time they took the field at Samford Stadium with the Georgia "G" donning the side of their helmets.
But the good news is that, even with a loss on the ledger this season now, it might actually be the best thing that could happen to the Dawgs. That's especially true with Smart still at the helm of the program.
Kirby Smart is a master motivator who just got Georgia the ammo it needed
En route to his two national championships with Georgia, Smart has been proven to be a motivational wizard. How else could you describe a head coach who convinced a widespread title favorite that there were reasonable people out there who thought the Dawgs would go 7-5 on the season? Whenever he gets a pen-dot of bulletin-board material, he turns it into a Charlie Kelly-level conspiracy with the whole team trying to find Pepe Silvia.
So if there was any sense of complacency from this year's team that cost them in the loss to Alabama, you have to imagine that Smart is about to wipe that all away. This is a motivational point he can continue to use to get his team fired up, proving that nothing is given in this sport, especially in the SEC. Furthermore, it's a moment he can point to all the ways that Georgia can get better over their final eight games of the regular season and beyond.
And for what it's worth, Saban might be thinking the same way about this. Later in his interview with McAfee, he essentially said as much with where the Bulldogs can go from here at 3-1 on the season.
"I don’t think Georgia is that far off," Saban said. "This was one of those measuring stick games — 'Okay, we’re not that far off. Alabama’s not that bad, so it’s not like we lost to a bad team.' The question becomes, what do we need to do to get better? I think Kirby's really good at that, and I think his team will respond well to a loss."
Georgia doesn't have time to lick its wounds after Alabama loss
Perhaps the best thing working in Smart and Georgia's favor is the fact that the Dawgs don't have time to dwell on coming up short and the 33-game winning streak ending. It's right back on the field to play the Kentucky Wildcats in Athens in Week 6, which could be a get-right game, before the SEC schedule really heats back up.
Here's a look at the rest of Georgia's SEC schedule:
- Oct. 4 - vs. Kentucky
- Oct. 11 - at Auburn
- Oct. 18 - vs. 4 Ole Miss
- Oct. 25 - BYE
- Nov. 1 - vs. Florida (in Jacksonville)
- Nov. 8 - at Mississippi State
- Nov. 15 - vs. 9 Texas
The Bulldogs will then finish the season at home against Charlotte, and then with the non-conference rivalry matchup with Georgia Tech for Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.
While Mark Stoops and Kentucky have given Georgia some fits over the years, this year's Wildcats are a lesser version than we've seen in some time. If there are kinks to iron out after the loss to the Tide, it's the type of game wherein the Dawgs can do so, while also showcasing how much fire they can respond to defeat with.
More importantly, though, Georgia is anything but out of this. Saban's right — this team is close. Gunner Stockton is coming into his own, there are several big opportunities remaining on the schedule, and the Dawgs also have the win over Tennessee already under their belt as well. It all depends on how they respond, and based on Kirby Smart's track record, the loss to Bama might've given him the match he needed to light the right fire under this team.