Dan WolkenATLANTA — Breaking down No. 2 Alabama's 29-15 SEC Championship victory against No. 15 Florida on Saturday:
THE BIG PICTURE: It’s a familiar story by now. Alabama loses to Ole Miss early. Alabama regains its focus. Alabama wins the SEC and gets into the College Football Playoff.
For the second consecutive year, the Crimson Tide has recovered from an unexpected early loss and run the table in the SEC, giving Nick Saban his sixth conference title (fourth at Alabama). Unlike last year, however, Alabama (12-1) will not be the heavy favorite going into the Playoff because it’s unclear how much this team has been tested. Alabama’s defense has been dominant at times, but it hasn’t faced a potent passing attack like Oklahoma that can challenge its secondary. And its offense has struggled to finish drives late in the season, settling five field goals against against Auburn and three against Florida (missing one). That won't be good enough in the Playoff.
Meanwhile, it’s almost a minor miracle Florida (10-3) even got this far after losing starting quarterback Will Grier in mid-October due to a positive test for performance enhancing drugs that triggered a one-year suspension. The Gators’ offense almost seemed to get worse each week, failing to score a single point against Florida State and getting just a garbage time touchdown against Alabama. But given how much the program struggled under Will Muschamp the last four years, just getting to Atlanta and reaching 10 wins is a major accomplishment for Jim McElwain in his first season. The Gators will undoubtedly have more chances to win SEC titles if he can find a quarterback and continue to recruit depth in the offensive line.
WHAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT: Florida’s offensive ineptitude frankly overshadowed anything Alabama did Saturday. The Gators were astoundingly bad, netting just one yard in the second quarter and two in the third and finishing with 180 total yards on 45 plays. Florida went 0-for-11 on third down.
Though Alabama obviously had something to do with that, Florida quarterback Treon Harris had plenty of opportunities to make plays and simply missed open receivers — sometimes badly. He finished 9-of-24 for 165 yards with an interception and a touchdown, the score coming in the fourth quarter after the game was well in hand. Their other points came on a punt return touchdown in the second quarter.
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Alabama freshman receiver Calvin Ridley has been compared to former Tide great Amari Cooper for much of this season and showed why at the Georgia Dome. His spectacular 55-yard catch between two Florida defenders in the second quarter set up Alabama’s first touchdown, giving the Crimson Tide a 12-7 lead. But he was good on the perimeter the entire game, turning short throws and screens into solid yardage with quick, shifty moves. Ridley finished with eight catches and 102 yards and once again asserted himself as the top target for quarterback Jacob Coker.
KEY STAT: Alabama running back Derrick Henry set an SEC record for rushing yardage in a single season, surpassing Herschel Walker’s 34-year old mark of 1,891 in the third quarter. Henry, who finished with 189 yards on 44 carries, also became the running back to rush for 100-plus yards in multiple SEC championship games (he had 141 against Missouri last year).
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