After suffering a crushing fourth quarter collapse during last year’s SEC Championship game, Alabama worked all year to make sure they did not face the same result. Billed as the game of the year, Alabama was truly dominant in a 32-13 dismantling of top-ranked Florida.
Mark Ingram rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns, while Greg McElroy played the best game of his season against Florida’s top-ranked defense.
Alabama never trailed and got on the board early, taking the opening drive for three points. After a Florida punt, Alabama found the end zone on a 7-yard run by Ingram.
After trading field goals, Florida settled down and scored on a 23-yard pass from Tebow to David Nelson. Appearing to gain momentum, Florida needed to stop Alabama before the half but were unable to do so. Ingram took a screen pass 69 yards before eventually punching it in from three yards out.
The Gators trailed 19-13 at the half.
After failing to score on the opening possession of the second half, Florida punted. From there it was all Ingram and McElroy. Alabama marched down the field and finished the drive on a perfect 17-yard touchdown throw from McElroy to Colin Peek.
Ingram scored his third touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
As the SEC Champion, Alabama will meet Texas for the BCS National Championship in Pasadena.
Florida will settle for the Sugar Bowl against Cincinnati.
Notes
I took a lot of flack for predicting a 27-10 Florida victory in my game preview. However, I do stand by everything I said. I did not predict a Florida win because of any bias. I truly felt that the Gators were better on both sides of the ball.
Clearly, Alabama was the better team on this day and I give them all the credit that they deserve. However, I have to say that Florida was truly pathetic on both sides of the ball. We went away from the game plan that has worked so well all season and we were out-coached soundly on offense and defense. For Demps and Rainey to have three carries total is absurd, and to play so poorly on defense is hard to watch.
As a long time Gator I have never been a fan of Charlie Strong. Many feel that he is ready to be a head coach but this game should show how that is clearly not the case. He was unable to adjust to a simple Alabama attack, and some of our calls in crucial situations were awful. If he ends up being the next coach at Louisville or somewhere else, I know a lot of fans that will be happy.
I can only hope that we can regroup enough to not be the Alabama of last year. After a tough loss to us, they were pounded by Utah in the Sugar Bowl. I believe we will be favored against Cincinnati and I hope that we are healthy and excited to finish the season on a high note. We were certainly not ready to play yesterday.
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Article originally posted at isportsweb.com.