The moment I knew the University of Georgia was in serious trouble against the Alabama Crimson Tide came with 12:25 remaining in the second quarter of the SEC Championship Game. UGA was leading 10-7. Alabama had the ball, but a holding call had backed them up near their own end zone. On first and 20, quarterback Bryce Young dropped back and lofted a spiral high into the air down the left sideline.
Thanks to a fortunate turn of events, I had been gifted two tickets to the SEC Championship game. We were sitting twenty-two rows up behind the Georgia bench, nearly perpendicular to the goal line. When Young threw that pass, it looked as though he was throwing the ball directly to me. The ball stayed up in the air forever, spinning and spinning tightly, and while the ball hovered I had time to look down at the field to see Alabama WR John Metchie III busting it down the sideline. I then shifted my eyes to the left a bit in time to see UGA safety Dan Jackson, who was apparently supposed to be defending Metchie on the play, stumbling along a few yards behind Metchie. Well, I thought, that isn’t promising.
Sure enough, the ball fell out of the sky and landed perfectly in Metchie’s hands for a 40-yard gain. And that was when I knew. As vaunted as UGA’s defense had been all season, Jackson was a walk-on back-up player, who saw a lot of playing time this season filling in for injured safety Christopher Smith. Of course, that didn’t really matter much, because UGA led late in every game this season, and opposing quarterbacks never had the time or wherewithal to stand calmly in the pocket and find their receivers. But the UGA secondary was not going to be able to keep up with Metchie and Jameson Williams.
UGA didn’t seem to want to blitz Bryce Young, despite that working when Texas A&M and Auburn played Bama, and when UGA did bring pressure they quickly lost contain and let Bryce Young do Bryce Young things outside the pocket. Once Bama got the lead in the second quarter, and scored on five consecutive possessions, UGA’s offense was exposed as being the afterthought we knew that it was all season long.
Alabama may not be the team they were in seasons past, but they were good enough. The Tide shored up the offensive line just long enough to give Bryce Young time to get the ball out. They ran a variety of quick passes to the sides, and even outschemed UGA by splitting their backs out wide as a decoy, essentially taking UGA’s top linebacker Nakobe Dean out of plays altogether.
You dared doubt the Tide? You doubted Nick Saban?
Perhaps you’ve heard that the Disney+ streaming service recently debuted Get Back, a documentary about the greatest rock band of all-time, The Beatles. I was never a Beatles obsessive as a kid, but as I grew older and started to learn to read music and play instruments and played in bands, I appreciated them more and more, particularly as I began to understand just how impactful The Beatles were.
Still, I was not prepared for how much I would enjoy Get Back, once it showed up on Disney+. I’ve enjoyed many rock documentaries—The History of the Eagles was my previous favorite, and I don’t even like the Eagles—mostly because I enjoy drama and creativity. But no band matches The Beatles in terms of scope and breadth and just the sheer number of hits. And this footage is astonishing. Visually, it’s clear and vibrant, with cheerful splashes of color on the walls. I love the vase of yellow flowers on the riser in front of Ringo’s kick drum, and the shaggy fur coats the guys routinely show up wearing for rehearsals. There’s probably more smoking in just the first part of Get Back than in every other Disney+ video combined.
Yet it’s the content of Get Back that has enthralled me. To see one of the most prolific bands of all-time on deadline, trying to write new music, resonated loud and clear with me. I’m sitting here right now, with a deadline ahead of me, trying to write this column. And just like The Beatles, apparently, I’ll do pretty much anything to avoid having to actually produce new material, as we see them go to lengths to avoid actually finishing new music.
While there is an interesting narrative thread—George Harrison decides he’s had enough of being a third wheel to Lennon/McCartney, and he quits the band at a crucial time, just as they’re prepping for a big concert—it’s watching these creators create and work on their craft that I loved. Getting to watch Lennon and McCartney actually brainstorm song lyrics? Watching George Harrison help Lennon figure out the bass line to “Let It Be?” Stunning stuff.
One of my big takeaways so far is that if Paul McCartney wasn’t a Beatle, I’m not sure the Let It Be album would have happened. So many people in and around the band seem to be focused on the wrong things, such as when George Harrison walks out, and the documentary director tries to pivot the discussion to the search for an upcoming concert venue. “It’s just…,” he says, “I just think we ought to have a good location.” (To which longtime Beatles producer George Martin blithely responds, “Location isn’t really our main problem at the moment.”)
Whenever things seem to be getting off track, McCartney is the one who seems to figure out how to get them headed in the right direction. Whenever one of their managers or producers or helpers needs an answer, they all head to Paul first. When a song’s arrangement is out of kilter, Paul seems to have a helpful suggestion.
When I was watching Get Back, I kept thinking about how being in a band is similar to being a member of a sports team. If you want success, it requires work, discipline, and above all, sacrifice. It also requires someone to be in charge, the mastermind who lays down the blueprint everyone else believes in and follows.
Nick Saban, I believe, is Paul McCartney. Yes the Tide were shaky for most of the season, but he did whatever he needed to do, and all of a sudden Alabama looks great. The line provided enough time for Bryce Young to throw the ball. Alabama had a banged up running back group, but they deployed their backs strategically, and it was enough, just enough, to make UGA have to account for them.
Why does Nick Saban get the credit? Because of another reality show: A few years ago, ESPN aired a program called “Rollin’ With the Tide,” which I wrote about at the time. Saban was the opposite of a magnetic personality — he seemed alternately meek and glum — but he put the right people in the positions to have the right results. And I don’t know how else you can explain Alabama’s success, not only in the past but this weekend, other than as a result of Saban’s processes.
On Saturday, as all of us UGA fans silently filed out of Mercedes Benz Stadium into the cool Atlanta night, there was a bit of relief. UGA may have lost the SEC Championship, but they would get another crack at the National Championship. Would Kirby Smart ever pick the right quarterback, or would the 7-0 JT Daniels continue to ride the bench? That worry would last until another day. On this night, Alabama showed the world why they’ve been considered The Beatles of college football.
If there’s anything we’ve learned from Nick Saban, it’s that success requires adherence to process. You have to keep the main thing the main thing. And in real time, this is rarely exciting. But it works. Does it ever.
It took him an entire season, but Nick Saban finally helped Alabama get back to where they once belonged.