Kirk Herbstreit reacts hilariously to Nick Saban's stoic expression amid Alabama offensive explosion

As Alabama opened Saturday night’s showdown against Georgia with a 28-point storming in less than 20 minutes, the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium was sent in raptures. But as Jalen Milroe crossed the goal line to stretch the lead out to 28-0, one man was, seemingly, not impressed — at least on the surface.

Shown on the ABC broadcast, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban sat in his booth with friends and family, apparently unmoved by the early-stage blowout occurring before him. But the many moods of Saban aside, color commentator Kirk Herbstreit — who now works with Saban on “College GameDay” — had some good humor at the scene.

“There’s somebody who is very happy. Even though he’s not showing it, he’s actually a very likable, sweet guy. But he’s locked in as a coach right now. Even up 28,” Herbstreit said.

"There's somebody who's very happy — even though he's not showing it."

Kirk Herbstreit on Nick Saban. pic.twitter.com/4u89udzqYy

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 29, 2024

Georgia would, finally, answer Alabama’s onslaught, putting together a touchdown drive to make the score 28-7 with fewer than 10 minutes until halftime.

And while Saban was stoic, Crimson Tide head coach raved about Milroe at halftime, speaking on the ABC broadcast.

“He’s just staying within himself,” DeBoer said. “I think we’re putting him in good spots, guys are blocking for him. And then we’re going out and making the play. He’s really progressed and you’re seeing him do what we asked him to do and he’s comfortable doing it right now.”

Smart felt Georgia’s offense played well in the 1st half

Speaking with sideline reporter Holly Rowe at halftime, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart said he actually thought his offense performed OK when it got on the field. The problem was just a lopsided possession margin.

“And our offense hasn’t been bad, we just can’t get our offense on the field. And we have to stop him. We turned the ball over,” Smart said.

While Smart wasn’t worried about the offensive showing, others will be.

Quarterback Carson Beck was 8-of-17 for 98 yards and two interceptions in the first half, including one that came right after a fourth down stop for the Bulldogs defense. Beck was also responsible, partly, for a safety when he was pressured and committed intentional grounding the end zone when he lofted a deep pass to some empty field.

And the rushing game managed to be a slight bright spot, going for 80 yards and the lone first half touchdown at a 7.3 yard per carry clip.

But the bigger problems lie on defense, where Georgia was sent chasing its tail early and often. Milroe finished the half with 305 yards of total offense himself while the entire offensive operation for the Crimson Tide looked effortless at times.

“Well most important thing is we’ve gotta get some stops,” Smart said. “Alabama’s been really explosive tonight. We’ve had no answers for Milroe. He’s a great athlete, phenomenal athlete. We’ve struggled to tackle him. We don’t have the edges. They’ve done a really good job throwing with him out of empty and that’s been new. But we’ve gotta get some stops.”