I literally cannot disagree with anything you said here.I've not gone back to look at the specific game numbers (yet, not sure I will), but I do recall the defenses under Kirby struggling against good spread-options teams. So far, based on his time here and at UGA and FSU, Pruitt seems to be better at shutting those defenses down. No one is perfect, they each have strengths and weaknesses, and there's zero question CKS is a fantastic defensive mind. I just think that Pruitt is better suited to face these modern option offenses - he seems to keep them on their heals more.
(One of the problems in evaluating the very argument comes down to 'what is the definition of the spread offense' because there are different types of spread attacks. Now - maybe I'm wrong as I'm no Xs and Os genius, but how much has the base offense Malzahn is running actually changed over the years? Because if it hasn't changed much then it's difficult to say Smart ever had much trouble with AUBURN'S particular version save perhaps 2014. Not that we didn't lose some games but the hits far outweigh the misses).
There is much that can be said - credibly critical - of Smart's performance on Saturday and leading up to it. On the flip side, Smart is a second-year head coach in his first job as a head coach and hasn't fully gotten ALL of his parts in place yet via recruiting, either. Georgia made some unforced errors and undisciplined errors as well. Smart's overall essence as a coach can be evaluated in the coming years as to how he responds to what happened Saturday. Let's not forget, folks, while it hasn't happened here at Alabama, Nick Saban has been on the receiving end of his share of blowouts, too, during his earlier years as a head coach. His responses to those defeats has been to treat them as learning experiences and make changes as need be.