This is an intriguing matchup with the Master versus his Protege. Smart certainly knows how Saban thinks. I pick UGA in this matchup, but not for the reason stated above. I see it this way:
"Remember, in the last BCS Championship, Auburn had that thing seemingly in hand, and then it didn’t. Last year, Alabama owned the first half, but slowly, Clemson crept back into the game.
In the Rose Bowl, Oklahoma dominated early. In the Orange, Miami looked like it was going to run Wisconsin out of the building. In the Outback, that thing was over when Michigan was given a strong lead against a mediocre South Carolina offense.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Georgia learned from the Oklahoma game.
It started out doing more reading and reacting on defense, allowing Baker Mayfield and Rodney Anderson do what they do, and then hoping to making tackles to limit the damage. That really, really didn’t work, so what did the coaching staff do to adjust? It attacked.
The pressure started coming in the second half, not letting Mayfield dance around and get comfortable, while shoving the tempo back in the Sooners’ face. Georgia finished with five sacks and nine tackles for loss, but more than that, it became the aggressor.
The Dawgs will have to rely on the run defense that’s a whole lot better and stronger than it looked in Pasadena, and it’ll have to turn Hurts into Captain Checkdown while not allowing Hurts to turn losses into gains by running out of the pocket.
Georgia cannot wait until the second half to go into attack mode and will need to do so from the start."
UGA in a close one: UGA 31 and Bama 28
