ATLANTA — Heading into the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, No. 1 Florida was still looking for the high-powered offense it established in 2007.
Instead, the Gators rediscovered their defense from that year in a 32-13 loss to No. 2 Alabama.
It was a stunning departure from recent form. UF allowed 490 yards to the Crimson Tide, whose 271 yards and 19 points in the first half surpassed what the Gators’ opponents had averaged during full games.
And of Alabama’s six scoring drives, four were of 70 yards or longer.
It’s hard to explain such a drastic change, but UF coach Urban Meyer cited missed tackles as a large reason why.
“I don’t know if it’s lack of focus, lack of preparation or the fact you’re facing some pretty good backs,” Meyer said. “We’ve been a very good tackling team. Our record is, I want to say, 45-2 when we have single-digit missed tackles, and I know we had more than single digits (Saturday). But don’t take away credit from the players who played.”
Alabama running back Mark Ingram was the cause for plenty of those missed tackles. Ingram bolstered his Heisman Trophy campaign with 113 yards and tied an SEC Championship Game record with three touchdowns on 28 carries.
He also tallied the longest reception of his career after taking a screen pass for 69 yards. That play took the wind out of Florida’s sails, providing a swift answer to a UF touchdown that made the score 12-10.
Ingram’s backfield partner, Trent Richardson, piled on another 80 yards on 11 carries, and Roy Upchurch added 57 more on seven runs.
“They ran the same stuff we saw on film, they just looked like they ran a little bit harder,” UF cornerback Joe Haden said.
During the regular season, Florida allowed 233.1 yards per game, and the most any team scored against UF before this week was 20 points by Arkansas. Also, the Crimson Tide’s 9 first-quarter points were the most the Gators have allowed in the first quarter all season, a period where they had outscored foes 109-16.
But the scope of the manhandling was best seen on two second-half drives. When Alabama took possession midway through the third quarter, the game’s outcome was still in doubt at 26-13. But 17 plays, 88 yards and 8:47 later, the Crimson Tide had all but sealed up the contest with a 32-13 lead.
Alabama converted five third downs on that drive, slowly making its way toward the end zone before Ingram punched in a 1-yard touchdown run.
Then, to add insult to injury, the Crimson Tide marched all over the Gators again when trying to run out the clock late in the fourth quarter, putting together a 71-yard, 12-play drive that ran off the final 7:28.
In total, Alabama converted 11 of 15 third downs, committed zero turnovers and scored on all five red-zone possessions (not including the final drive). It was a performance the likes of which Haden said he hadn’t seen since 2007 at LSU, when the Tigers were five-for-five on fourth downs.
“It’s frustrating because you know you have a good defense, you just can’t make the plays,” Haden said.
