Instant Analysis: Florida falls to Alabama yet again in Atlanta
ATLANTA, GEORGIA | The Gators entered Saturday's matchup as considerable underdogs against the Crimson Tide and managed to defy some expectations early on in this year's edition of the SEC Championship Game. However, as the contest went on, the reality became more apparent.
It's Alabama, and then everybody else right now in the SEC.
In both teams' second consecutive meeting in the SEC Championship Game, No. 1 Alabama (13-0, 8-0 SEC) once again came out victorious against No. 15 Florida (8-4, 6-2 SEC), with a 54-16 victory Saturday in the Georgia Dome. The 54 points are the most the Gators have allowed this season - and the second-most ever scored in an SEC title game.
While the Crimson Tide march on to the College Football Playoff, the Gators now have some time to look at themselves in the mirror before bowl season and reflect on what went wrong Saturday.
Instant Analysis now further examines the Gators' SECCG loss.
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* Updates: Jim McElwain's postgame press conference
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IT WAS OVER WHEN: After a wild first quarter and a second quarter where Alabama rode plenty of momentum offensively, the Crimson Tide essentially sealed the win late in the third quarter with a goal-line stand and ensuing 98-yard scoring drive to take a 40-16 lead with 3:32 left in the quarter.
Florida jumped out to a 7-0 advantage against Alabama - the second straight time the Gators have scored the first touchdown in the meeting between these two teams - when Austin Appleby engineered a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive on the first series of the game where he went 3-of-3 on third down and connected with Antonio Callaway for a 5-yard score.
Then, the Gators offense lost momentum when Appleby threw two picks, as the Crimson Tide scored a field goal off of the first and then punched in a score with the pick-six. Soon, Alabama blocked a punt by Johnny Townsend and returned it for a score - and while the Gators blocked the PAT and returned it for two points on the board - they still trailed 16-9 late in the first.
Once the Alabama offense got rolling, the Gators' chances of pulling off the upset soon dwindled, as the Crimson Tide would score two touchdowns on drives of 88 and 62 yards, and also tack on a field goal, to take a 33-9 lead. Florida managed to cut the deficit to 33-16 at halftime after an up-tempo 92-yard drive of 10 plays ended in Appleby finding DeAndre Goolsby on a strike for 25 yards.
Then, Alabama sucked any momentum Florida hoped to conjure up with a goal-line stand at the 2-yard line midway through the third quarter. A 32-yard screen pass to Lamical Perine set UF up at the 2, but the Crimson Tide stuffed three straight rushing attempts to force fourth down. Instead of taking the field goal, Florida tried a throw with Appleby - but his pass to the corner of the end zone for Goolsby was incomplete.
Alabama essentially wrapped things up with an eight-play, 98-yard scoring drive, fueled by a 31-yard catch by ArDarius Stewart and a 34-yard run by Bo Scarbrough. The Crimson Tide running back would then punch it in for a score and the 24-yard advantage. The Crimson Tide later scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
HE STOLE THE SHOW: After logging just a combined four catches for only 9 yards in his previous five games, Goolsby showed up for the Gators' offense with five catches on seven targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. Although Brandon Powell led the Gators in receptions with nine, Goolsby led the way in receiving yards for Florida against Alabama.
THESE STATS DON'T LIE: Alabama shut down the Florida rushing attack Saturday, as it outgained the Gators on the ground 234-0. Florida running backs Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine, Mark Thompson and Jordan Cronkrite combined for just 43 yards on 20 carries.
After converting on all three of its third downs on the opening drive, Florida went just 4-of-12 down the stretch on third-down conversions and 0-of-2 on fourth down.
Florida is now 2-7 against ranked teams under Jim McElwain with this most recent loss to Alabama.
WHAT A PLAY: A play after Alabama running back Josh Jacobs blocked a punt by Johnny Townsend for a score, the Gators bounced back with a blocked PAT returned for a two-point conversion in what was one of the wildest sequences we've seen by Florida this season. After Zuniga got his hand on Adam Griffith's kick, linebacker David Reese took the ball down the left sideline to cut UF's deficit to 16-9 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
THIS MATCH-UP PROVED KEY: The Alabama pass defense gave Austin Appleby trouble throughout much of Saturday's contest. After leading Florida to a touchdown on its opening drive Saturday, Appleby threw interceptions to linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton and defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick on back-to-back drives, resulting the second time in a pick-six by Fitzpatrick on a 44-yard return. Later in the second quarter, Appleby tossed another pick to Alabama cornerback Tony Brown, as Brown beat Ahmad Fulwood in a battle in the air for the grab. Alabama scored 17 points off of those three interceptions.
Appleby finished 26-of-39 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions against the Crimson Tide defense.
Stay tuned with ITG, as we provide more live postgame coverage of Florida's SEC Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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