PERFECT FINISH: Tide tops Florida to clinch conference title, top seed in playoff

By GRAHAM DUNN

Years from now, history will show that Alabama won an SEC championship for the 28th time in the program history over Florida on Saturday.

There might be an asterisk by it to notate the number of games played or the fact that there were no non-conference battles or that games were cancelled or moved due to COVID-19.

But ask Nick Saban what it means to finish a season 11-0, complete with a hard-fought 52-46 victory over the Gators, he might tell you – in perfect SEC fashion – “it just means more.”

“I’m proud of the way our team has competed all year long,” Saban said after the win. “This has been a year of lots of disruptions and a lot of abnormal things happening and the resiliency our team has shown to win 11 games is pretty phenomenal.  I think it speaks of the togetherness on the team, everybody sort of buying in.”

In 2020 fashion, Alabama ripped through another defense and put up massive numbers, breaking several SEC Championship records on the way to the win.

Start with running back Najee Harris, who seemed to surprise everyone he could catch passes and score touchdowns all on the same plays.

He scored five times for an SEC Championship record, three on receptions after having none in the first 10 games.

“I’ve been catching passes since birth,” Harris joked. “I’ve been catching the ball since I was in the fetus position.

“With our receivers, there’s been no reason for me to say, ‘pass me the ball.’”

Mac Jones and Devonta Smith did enough to keep their chances of winning the Heisman Trophy with phenomenal performances that, in any other year, would have been plenty to win the MVP trophy.

The defense did enough to keep Florida at bay, holding serve on a couple of possessions in the first half and creating two fumbles that were converted to 10 points.

Florida was almost equal to the task offensively, but missed opportunities and an ironic score at the end of the first half that seemed “too quick,” and allowed Alabama just over a minute to drive the field for what became a touchdown to give the Tide a 35-17 lead at the break.

“They got third-down penalties early,” Gators coach Dan Mullen said. “There are things you have to do to win. We made mental mistakes on third down in the first half. We gave up that drive at the end of the first half… all of that is disappointing.”

The Crimson Tide finished perfect during a regular season for the

The team learned on Sunday that it had indeed earned the top seed in the College Football Playoff and will face No. 4 Notre Dame. But the Tide was not set up in New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl but in Arlington, Texas and AT&T Stadium due to the Rose Bowl Game being moved from Pasadena because of COVID restrictions.

That means more Tide fans will be allowed to attend the game on Jan. 1 although there is still a restriction of approximately 16,000 in attendance.

“We felt like the committee would give a benefit for the No. 1 seed to have the chance to have 16,000 fans at the Rose Bowl as opposed to just 3,000 that would be allowed at this year’s Sugar Bowl,” stated Gary Barta, chairman of the CFP selection committee.

Alabama last met Notre Dame in the 2013 BCS Championship Game, a 42-14 win for the Tide.