Josh Heupel outcoached Nick Saban, Brian Kelly. Is Kirby Smart next? – USA TODAY

Tennessee’s 8-0 season has produced a series of coaching clinics, all administered by Josh Heupel.

He hasn’t been outcoached any more than his team has been outscored. His offense remains an ongoing mystery to opposing coaches as he prepares his team to take on No. 1 Georgia on Saturday at Sanford Stadium.

Remember when Alabama coach Nick Saban was renowned as a defensive strategist? That was easily forgotten when the Vols accumulated  52 points in a three-point victory at Neyland Stadium.

Saban rarely has looked so helpless on the sideline, as if he were reconciled to an unfavorable outcome. Each Tennessee possession was so much like the previous one it might as well have rolled off an assembly line.

Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt turned almost every pass reception into a touchdown. A ghost couldn’t have been less detectable in the Alabama secondary. If the Tide ever made a coverage adjustment, you couldn’t prove it by Hyatt.

A week earlier, LSU’s Brian Kelly admitted his coaching failure in a 40-13 loss to the Vols. Like Saban, he’s regarded as one of the game’s premier coaches. Neither one looked the part against Heupel.

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Now, it’s Kirby Smart’s turn to match wits with Heupel, whose offense has yet to be slowed, much less stopped. Smart might not succeed but don’t expect him to match Saban in blank looks.

Smart first distinguished himself as a defensive coordinator and accomplished recruiter on Saban’s Alabama staff. But he basically was running the defense for a defensive-minded head coach. So, there was room for skepticism about his defensive mastery.

Not anymore. Smart has won one national title and come tantalizingly close to winning another one. And his success is no fluke. Instead, he’s succeeding at a Saban-like level with similar consistency.

Smart stacks one great recruiting class on top of another. When his star players leave en masse for the NFL, he replaces them with more stars.

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Don’t let his frantic moves on the sideline fool you. He seems totally engaged, certainly more so than his former mentor was against Tennessee. In fact, he might now be a better coaching option on game day. I will withhold judgment until after Saturday.

Georgia will have more going for them than Smart against the Vols. Despite the attrition from last season, it’s still wrecking offenses and has the stats to prove it.

The Bulldogs rank second nationally in scoring defense. They’re also fourth in total defense, fifth in run defense, 13th in pass defense, and second in red-zone defense.

And it’s not as though their defense is having to carry the offense. Georgia is sixth in scoring, averaging 41.8 points per game. The Bulldogs scored 41 on the Vols last season in a 24-point victory. They haven’t scored fewer than 31 points on Tennessee since 2011.

Of course, 31 points might not be enough points Saturday. Tennessee is averaging 49.4 points per game. And it’s making good defenses look bad. Although Alabama gave up 52 points to the Vols, it has allowed an average of 11.5 points in its other seven games.

Georgia already has shut down one prolific offense. In the season opener, it beat Oregon 44-3. The Ducks rank fifth nationally in points and haven’t scored fewer than 41 since their Georgia debacle.

Tennessee will present a greater challenge. And there are 52 reasons why Smart can’t expect any tips from his former boss.

John Adams is a senior columnist. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.