Offense: Alabama Crimson Tide 38 – Florida Gators 10
First thoughts are up. Moving on to the offense.
For a few moments, everything looked wonderful. Florida started with not only a deep attempt, but a deep completion. John Brantley hit Andre Debose in stride for a 65-yard touchdown and everything appeared to be perfect with the world for just a second. Not only was it the deep ball we’ve all been searching for, it was Brantley – the quarterback with a shaky past – to Debose – the all-world recruit with little to show for it on offense to this point. It didn’t hurt that Debose beat one of the nation’s better cornerbacks – Dre Kirkpatrick – on the play. For just a moment, the aura of the Alabama defense disappeared.
That aura stayed in the locker room a little longer as the Gators had no problem driving the field on their second drive as well. Unfortunately, it was one of those drives that needed to result in a touchdown. The Gators’ defense had held the Crimson Tide offense to a field goal at the other end of the field and Florida had done the unthinkable – drive on the Bama defense twice in two drives. The unthinkable had happened: Debose’s touchdown, Brantley to Deonte Thompson for 30 yards on third-and-six, Brantley to Thompson again for 13 yards on third-and-seven. Things were definitely falling the Gators’ way…for just a moment…
On first-and-goal from the nine, Brantley found Chris Rainey all alone, but the pass was a second late and Rainey’s momentum carried him out of bounds at the four. Had Brantley been able to make the throw just a split second earlier, Rainey would have easily walked into the end zone. On second-and-goal, Brantley made a beautiful pass to the rising hero – Debose – only to have Debose slightly lose control of the ball. Third down resulted in another incompletion and suddenly Florida was faced with a field goal.
Although the drive didn’t end as desired, the Gators were still up 10-3 and had put points on the board on their first two drives. Great, right? Well, those would be the only points Florida would manage in a game somewhat reminiscent of the 1999 SEC Championship Game. The following drives would end like this: interception, punt, punt, field goal miss, punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt. Six of those seven punts were the result of three-and-outs. Part of it had to do with the injury to Brantley and the passing game disappearing; much of it had to do with the running game never showing up.
Only one week earlier, the Gators ran the ball 46 times for 405 yards. It’s been said many times, but was proven beyond the shadow of a doubt on Saturday night: Kentucky isn’t Alabama. Against the Tide, the Gators ran the ball 29 times for 15 yards. That’s an average of less than half a yard per carry. The long of the night came from backup-but-could-be-the-new-starting-quarterback Jeff Driskel. Driskel scrambled for 31 yards on a play that reminded many of Tim Tebow. That was all that reminded anyone of no. 15. It was the high point for the Florida run game all night. There’s a theme here and that theme is four yards. Rainey: 11 carries, four yards. Jeff Demps: three carries, four yards. Mike Gillislee: three carries, four yards.
On passing plays, the offensive line looked like a different unit entirely. They formed pockets around Brantley and although he was pressured, the line did their job early he was able to complete 11 passes on 16 attempts for 190 yards (until Bama’s defense woke up, that’s an entirely different story). On running plays, things were incredibly different. When Florida attempted to run up the middle, every hole was closed immediately. Going to the outside, ball carriers were met by what seemed like 50 defenders in Alabama uniforms. Even on plays when the blocking came together, the Tide defense was too quick. Other than Driskel’s scramble, Rainey had the long run of the night of only seven yards and that didn’t come until almost halfway through the fourth quarter.
The loss comes especially hard because we finally saw what the passing game can do. In the first quarter, Brantley attempted seven passes and completed five of them. His first quarter yardage total was 110 with three of his completions going to wide receivers for 103 of those yards. It looked like Charlie Weis had opened up the playbook and the passing game could be as dangerous as we all hoped. Then Bama’s defense woke up.
A “what just happened?!?” interception took the wind out of the Gators’ sails. Florida would go three-and-out twice after the turnover, allowing Alabama to extend their lead to 14 before the half. But then hope was restored and Brantley caught fire again. Four straight completions and suddenly the Gators were at the Tide 13. Then the unthinkable happened. Courtney Upshaw – who had an outstanding all-around night – sacked Brantley and the quarterback went down awkwardly on his leg. Brantley was helped off the field and the offensive surge was officially over.
Florida would only get into Alabama territory once during the second half – and that was only to the 49. Driskel was force-fed the keys to the offense against possibly the nation’s best defense. It wasn’t a night to remember for the true freshman and one he needs to forget quickly. In less than one week, the Gators travel to LSU and he may be the new starter.
A rough night for the Gators’ offense definitely, but if you had any doubts about the Tide defense, they’re now gone. Alabama looks every bit a contender on both sides of the ball, while Florida still has work to do. One team couldn’t run and the other stopped the run consistently. That was predicted to be the key to winning this game and ended up being right on the money.
Up next: the Gators’ defensive performance.