Nick Saban says ‘The Tide will dominate’ against Georgia

Nick Saban left no doubt about his thoughts on the Georgia-Alabama game during his appearance on College GameDay.

Saban, speaking on the panel from within Coleman Coliseum — where the show was moved because of the threat of storms — was noticeably upbeat among the Crimson Tide fans in the arena.

“(Georgia has) dominated every team that they’ve played,” Saban said. “They haven’t played anybody, but they will play somebody tonight, and the Tide will dominate.”

Interestingly enough, Saban later said during the broadcast that while a head coach, he disliked his players watching College GameDay and hearing about their accolades with the expectation for victories..

“I used to hate it, Saban said. “ And everybody picks us to win and I know the players are watching that, and I’m wondering if it will affect their psychological disposition … because you (GameDay panel) think they are going to win, and they have to go out and play.”

Saban propped up Georgia during his Friday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.

“I think Georgia is one of the most complete teams in the country,” Saban said. “I know they haven’t been tested, but they haven’t been behind, they’ve dominated the competition, which that’s hard to do sometimes when you’re supposed to win and you go out and win like you’re supposed to, and they’ve been able to do that.”

Saban said “I know Kirby,” and outlined the five things he believes the Georgia coach will emphasize for his defense:

• Stop the run

• Affect the quarterback

• Don’t allow explosive plays

• Get off field on third downs

• Create turnovers

Saban’s popularity is swelling of late, as ESPN ha started its six-part documentary on his career and life.

It has somewhat overshadowed Smart becoming the winningest SEC coach in history by percentage, as the 11th-year Georgia coach has won 85.3% of his games while Saban sits second at 84.7%

Georgia opened as a 1.5-point favorite, but the line quickly shifted in Alabama’s favor, indicating the betting public preferred the Tide.

The line had moved up to Alabama by 2.5 points in many sports books, likely because of the surprising news that Georgia touchdown-leader Chauncey Bowens is out for the game.

Bowens suffered an apparent ankle injury in the first half of the Bulldogs’ 38-14 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday before returning to action in the second half.

Georgia updated its injury report on Friday night to indicate that receiver Isiah Canion was downgraded from questionable to “out.”

It was a particularly disappointing announcement in light of the fact that Thomas Blackshear, Canion’s primary backup, is also out after suffering a shoulder injury Saturday against Vanderbilt.