12/6 SEC Championship
Unfortunately, the SEC Championship Game between Alabama and Florida went exactly like the experts predicted, as Alabama fell 31-20. As I posted in my blog last week, there were several things that we had to do to win this game. We actually were able to successfully do most of them; we ran the ball pretty effectively, we didn’t turn the ball over (except at the end when the game was already over), and we tackled very well. The difference in the game was quite simply red zone performance. Florida came through in the clutch while in the red zone time after time, and twice when we were in deep, we faltered and were forced to kick field goals.
A perfect example was Florida’s first drive. On second and goal, we stuffed Tebow for a 2-yard loss, leading to a third and goal at the 3. Kareem had fantastic coverage on his man, but a scrambling Tim Tebow hit his receiver on quite possibly the most perfect pass I’ve ever seen, giving the Gators a 7-0 lead. We came right back with a quick TD, then stopped the Gators on their next possession. A great return by Arenas gave us excellent field position, but once we got into the red zone, our play calling got very conservative, and we had to settle for a short field goal. We stuffed them again, and looked like we were going to increase our lead, but stalled again in Florida territory. We then ran a rather bizarre fake field goal, and it was open for the first down, but PJ Fitzgerald decided to take on 8 Florida defenders rather than pitch it to his trail man who was wide open for a huge gain down the sideline. Florida then kicked a field goal, Arenas choked on a kick-off return, and then Florida got another TD to make the score 17-10 at halftime.
To be honest, I wasn’t very hopeful at that point. I thought they had pretty good control of the game, but we stopped them on a 3 and out to start the second half, and then had our best drive of the game to tie the game 17-17. We then dominated the rest of the third quarter, but once again, we played horribly once we were in the red zone, and had to settle for another short field goal to take a narrow 20-17 lead going into the fourth.
Unfortunately, we didn’t show up in the fourth quarter. Florida easily drove the ball deep into our territory to start the fourth, and converted a crucial third and 5 inside our 10. After that conversion, the TD was a foregone conclusion, and they took a 24-20 lead with about 8:00 left in the game. That’s when I thought we made a huge error in strategy.
In football, it is very important to accurately assess the situation that you’re in. I love Coach Saban, and I think he understands these situations better than almost any coach I’ve seen. However, the sequence that occurred when we got the ball back indicated to me that the coaching staff didn’t quite understand exactly what was going on. The situation was as follows: we absolutely, positively had to score on that possession. Our defense was NOT going to stop Florida if they got the ball back, so if we didn’t score, they were going to win the game 31-20, because they most definitely were going to get a TD if they got the ball back. Therefore, based on that assessment, I felt that our play calls had to reflect the fact that we had to score, similar to our Arkansas game last year when we marched down the field with underneath crossing routes. But that’s not what happened.
Our first play was a non-play; a pass out of bounds in the vicinity of Julio Jones, which left us with a second and 10, and the next play is where our national championship hopes died. For some reason, all year on second and 10 after an incomplete pass, we run a draw play. Not some of the time, but all the time, every time. Understand that draw plays are designed to fool a defense. The defense expects a pass, so the handoff goes underneath the rushers, leading to a big gain. However, since we ran that play every single time in that situation throughout the season, including several unsuccessful times in this game, the Florida defense knew exactly what we were going to do. So effectively, on perhaps the most important play in the modern history of Alabama football, we hit the middle for a 1-yard gain, leaving us with a third and 9. The next play never had a chance. The Gators owned our O-line all day on downs where they knew we were going to pass, so after the draw play, the game was over. You know the rest. Sack, punt, time-consuming TD drive, ballgame, go play Utah in the Sugar Bowl instead of Oklahoma or Texas for the national championship.
I don’t mean to sound so negative. I know that we played against an awesome opponent, and I know we played hard, and for the most part, we played well. I just didn’t want to go out like that, with a feeble little draw play that everyone that watched any tape on Alabama (like I presume Urban Meyer did) knew we were going to run. And even though I sounded very pessimistic in last week’s blog, I honestly thought we had a great chance in this game, and we did. We just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities, and that’s extremely disappointing to me.
So congratulations to the Florida Gators. They are a phenomenal team in every respect, and like I said last week, I believe Tim Tebow is the greatest quarterback in college football history. Even if we would have run a play on that fateful second down instead of waving the white flag, they still probably would have won, but we’ll never know that for sure.
So all that’s left is our bowl game. It seems very anti-climatic that this season will end against Utah, but you really can’t take anything away from the players and coaching staff for this season. 12-1 with a berth in the Sugar Bowl and our first Number 1 ranking during the season in 28 years? Phenomenal! Congratulations and thanks to Coach Saban, the players, and all the assistant coaches. We’ll never forget this season.
Keep your chins up, Bama nation. We’re back.
Roll Tide!
Kenny
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