No. 1 Tide topple No. 7 Gators 31-6 in Tuscaloosa

The rubber match of the last two Southeastern Conference Championship games was expected to be a heavyweight battle. Instead, the No. 1/1 Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 SEC) showed their might with a 31-6 victory over the No. 7/7 Florida Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL, on Saturday evening.

Scoring on their first four offensive possessions, Alabama took a 24-0 lead over Florida halfway into the second quarter. The Crimson Tide scored a field goal on their opening drive and intercepted a pass from Gators freshman quarterback Trey Burton on the following possession in the end zone on fourth down.

Alabama would then get on the board with back-to-back rushing touchdowns from Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram in the second quarter, also scoring on a 19-yard pass from wide receiver Marquis Maze to tight end Michael Williams with 6:09 left in the first half. Maze’s touchdown pass came after redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley threw his second interception of the season to cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick on 3rd and 11 from Florida’s 27.

Gators senior punter Chas Henry, filling in for junior kicker Caleb Sturigs, ended the second quarter with a 39-yard field goal and opened the third quarter with a 21-yard field goal to give Florida its only points of the contest.

Down 24-6 halfway through the third quarter, Brantley threw another interception, this one to linebacker C.J. Mosely on 2nd and 5 from Florida’s 33 yard line, which Mosely returned for a touchdown to give Alabama its 31-6 lead.

Even with the Gators’ poor execution, the offense outperformed the Crimson Tide’s 281-273. Brantley was 16-of-31 for for 202 yards compared to Alabama QB Greg McElroy’s 11-of-17 performance for 84 yards. Ingram was held to 47 yards on 12 carries, though RB Trent Richardson ran for 63 yards on 10 touches. Florida RB Jeff Demps carried the ball 11 times for 47 yards, and redshirt junior WR Deonte Thompson led the Gators with 60 yards on three receptions.

Hoping to rebound from their worst performance of the season, the Gators will take on the No. 10 LSU Tigers (5-0, 3-0 SEC) in Gainesville, FL, next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will air live on ESPN.

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