BAMA-UF: Saban handed teaching moment after close call

By TIM GAYLE

In a battle for survival, top-ranked Alabama came out on top 31-29 in Saturday’s game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium against 11th-ranked and previously unbeaten Florida. And just as Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban always looks for the teaching moment following a loss, the Tide’s fight to keep the upper hand in the fourth quarter was a learning experience as well.

“I think the players should gain some respect for winning and what it takes to win,” Saban said. “I think resiliency, overcoming adversity, we had to do that today. I think if you’re going to win games against really good teams, you certainly need to know how to do that.” 

Alabama (3-0) came out on fire against the Gators, with Bryce Young throwing touchdown passes to Jase McClellan, Jahleel Billingsley and Brian Robinson to help the visitors out to a quick 21-3 lead. But the inevitable adjustments kept the Tide off the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half and for much of the remainder of the game, allowing Florida to climb back into it. 

“Florida’s a really, really good team,” Saban said. “They had a great plan offensively against us. Took us out of a lot of things that we wanted to do (defensively) when they kept running the speed option all the time. But I think the big thing to learn for our players is we have to continue to maintain intensity throughout a game. When we got ahead 21-3, we had played absolutely great football. Then we go three plays and out three times in a row on offense. Eventually, they score a touchdown (and) get the crowd back into the game. It was difficult after that.”

Young, who was nearly flawless in completing 12 of 16 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns in the first 15 minutes, would complete just 10 of 19 for 95 yards and no touchdowns in the final 45 minutes.

“Early on, they came out and hit some plays on us,” Florida coach Dan Mullen said. “Once we settled down into the game, our guys expected to win the game. We just dug ourselves an early hole that we had to dig out of. And we did. Just came up a play (or two short). So many different things you can point to during the course of the game that could flip it one way or the other. 

Ultimately, it was a missed extra point by Chris Howard after the first touchdown. When Dameon Pierce scored on a 17-yard run with 3:10 remaining, the Gators were forced to go for the two-point conversion to tie the game. Malik Davis was stuffed on a run up the middle, allowing Alabama to maintain the two-point margin of victory.

It marked Alabama’s eighth consecutive win over the Gators, coming just nine months after edging Florida 52-46 in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta.

“Coming into the game, I don’t know if they knew where they were at and we didn’t know where we were at,” Mullen observed. They’re certainly a very different team than they were last year, we’re a very different team than we were last year. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to fix up and we have to get better at, but I think we have the opportunity to be a pretty good football team. I think they’re an excellent football team. Obviously, Nick (Saban) does a great job, continuing to have guys play at an extremely high level.

For Mullen and a Gator offense that led the nation in rushing yards (763) and was first in the conference in total offense (averaging 609.5), piling up 404 total yards on the Crimson Tide defense while quarterback Anthony Richardson stood on the sideline recovering from a hamstring injury was about what he expected. Emory Jones, who alternates with Richardson, completed 17 of 27 passes for 182 yards and rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, giving the Tide defense fits in the final three quarters of the game.

“We started to reel a little bit on defense,” Saban said. “I think we got tired in the second quarter. We played a lot of plays when we went three and out three times in a row. We had a difficult time stopping the run. They had 258 yards rushing. I don’t think we’ve had that for a long time.

“When you’re playing the option, everybody’s got to be disciplined. Somebody’s got the quarterback, somebody’s got the pitch. Because we weren’t doing that correctly, I think we were afraid to do a lot of other things that we had planned in the game. But we didn’t get off the field on third down, either.

Florida converted four of its five third-down opportunities in the second half and the Crimson Tide, which managed just 91 rushing yards in the contest, couldn’t maintain its comfortable lead.

But when it counted most, the defense came up with the play to keep the Tide unbeaten, extending a winning streak against SEC East Division teams to 32 (dating back to a 2010 loss to South Carolina) and keeping Mullen winless in 11 attempts against Saban’s Alabama squad, counting nine games at Mississippi State. 

Mullen has faced Alabama as a top-ranked team five times, lowering the margin of defeat from 48 points in 2016 to seven in 2017 to six last season and to a pair of points on Saturday.

“I want a team that can compete for championships on a consistent basis,” Mullen said. “And to do that, to compete for championships, you’re going to have to beat Alabama. Everybody said last year, ‘What’s the margin?’ Last year, it was six points, this year it was two. Hopefully, we get one more shot at them (in December in the SEC Championship Game) and get an opportunity to compete for another championship as we move forward.” 

Alabama returns home to play Southern Mississippi next weekend at Bryant-Denny Stadium, while Florida (2-1) remains home to play Tennessee in an SEC East matchup.