Former SEC coach Jackie Sherrill: ‘I’d take Georgia’s defense’ over Bama’s offense

All eyes will be on the epic matchup between Alabama’s offense and Georgia’s defense in Saturday’s SEC game of the week.

Former Mississippi State and Texas A&M head coach Jackie Sherrill offered his take on the two stellar units during an appearance on “SEC This Morning” on Monday.

Sherrill was asked by host Peter Burns which unit he would rather be coaching, Alabama’s offense or Georgia’s defense, in this week’s game.

“I’d take Georgia’s defense,” Sherrill said. “Defense always wins. Especially when you look at the road games.”

The Bulldogs will make the trip to Tuscaloosa this weekend.

Sherrill expressed his belief that even at the pro level, defense still matters, and battles along the lines of scrimmage are key even though the perception of what it takes to win has seemed to change.

“We like the pretty boys,” he concluded. “We don’t like the mudders.”

The average point total in the SEC last weekend was 33 points, according to the show’s co-host Chris Doering. The Crimson Tide are coming off two consecutive games in which it scored 52 or more points. The combined scored in its game against Ole Miss was 111 points. The 1,370 yards off total offense was the most in an SEC game in the conference’s history.

This type of offensive production has brought about a change in defensive philosophy, according to Sherrill.

“Nick [Saban] went through that at one time,” he explained. “He ended up having the big defensive linemen. The one at one time was a nose guard who was about 350 pounds. But all of a sudden he realized that in our game today we have to have the mobile defensive linemen. But we also have to have two, sometimes three-deep to finish out the game against the style that’s being played.”

Alabama quarterback Mac Jones continues to lead the nation in passing efficiency by a fairly wide margin. He is second in passing yards per completion.

Alabama leads the nation in scoring offense, while Georgia ranks fifth in scoring defense. The Bulldogs currently stand second in total defense, while the Tide are ranked third in total offense.