Nick Saban suggests Georgia players were 'a little complacent' with 33-game home winning streak

Georgia’s remarkable 33-game home winning streak came to an end last weekend at the hands of Alabama. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday, Nick Saban made a fascinating claim — he believes that the Bulldogs’ success at Sanford Stadium may have created a false sense of security.

“Honestly, when you win all the time at home, sometimes I thought as a coach that it wasn’t always an advantage,” Saban told McAfee. “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.”

That certainly could’ve been the case for Georgia, and it worked to the Crimson Tide’s advantage. Still, the former Alabama coach, who’s faced and overcome similar challenges during his own career, sees the Bulldogs’ loss less as a red flag and more as an opportunity to recalibrate.

“I don’t think Georgia is that far off,” Saban added. “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.”

Saban pointed out that while Georgia’s defense gave up uncharacteristic big plays, they also did a lot right against Alabama: “I think Kirby’s probably a little bit disappointed in the big plays they’ve given up on defense. That’s not typically how they play or what they do,” he said. “Obviously, the issue in the game last week was not getting off the field on third down.

“If you take all the other parts of their defense and ask, ‘How did we play in the game?’ — they played really well. They stopped the run. They affected the quarterback to some degree, even though they didn’t get sacks. But they couldn’t get off the field on third down. So they’ve got to have a better plan for that, and the players have to do a better job of executing it.”

All in all, Saban shed some light on Georgia’s quarterback position as well. He believes Gunner Stockton is still finding his rhythm in big-game moments, and that’ll come with more opportunities.

“I think Gunner has to settle down even more,” Saban added. “There were times in the game where I thought he aborted the play when he didn’t need to. If he plays with a little more consistency, it’ll help.

“And then the fourth-and-one stop in the game was huge. There are always three or four critical plays that make the difference, and that one — where they could’ve tied it with a field goal but didn’t convert — was critical.”

To put it all in perspective, Georgia’s setback against Alabama was its first home loss in quite some time, but now Kirby Smart’s squad must take the lessons from their measuring-stick defeat and prove Saban right. They’re still within striking distance of returning to the elite standard they’ve established in recent years, and that’ll start this weekend against Kentucky.