ATLANTA — C’yontai Lewis didn’t want to leave the field. The Alabama native was on a knee, fighting back tears as he watched his cousin Bo Scarbrough and the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate their third consecutive SEC Championship.
Freshman receiver Tyrie Cleveland walked off the field with tears streaming down his face then sat dejected in his locker, a towel over his head. Nobody gave the Florida Gators a chance to win this game but the hurt the players showed after the 54-16 loss showed that they believed they could.
“I will tell you this. I didn’t come here to be close. We came here to be champions of the SEC,” head coach Jim McElwain said after the game. “That’s what you do when you’re at the University of Florida, and that’s the expectation, and I understand that.”
The belief was justified on the very first drive. The Gators came out with a gameplan to keep Alabama off balance on defense with new shifts and motions and it worked.
Austin Appleby found Antonio Callaway for a 17-yard gain on third and 13. Three plays later Appleby targeted Brandon Powell for another third down conversion. Appleby and Callaway connected again, for 24-yards, later in the drive. Florida was 0-for-12 on third down a week ago and converted three on the first drive against the best team in the country. Appleby found Callaway for a score and Pineiro’s PAT gave Florida a 7-0 lead.
They still didn’t have your attention yet, but a Crimson Tide three and out that netted a loss of six yards made you start to think, maybe, just maybe this could happen. After an Alabama field goal things got weird.
Real weird.
Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Austin Appleby and returned it 44-yards for a touchdown. It was the Tide’s 10th non-offensive touchdown of the season and made the score 10-7.
Florida’s ensuing drive lasted just six plays before they were forced to punt. Derrick Gore blocked Johnny Townsend’s punt and Josh Jacobs returned the ball for a touchdown. It was the first blocked punt return for a touchdown in SEC Championship game history. Redshirt freshman Jabari Zuniga got a paw on Adam Griffith’s extra point attempt and David Reese scooped it in the end zone. Reese took the ball all the way back to Florida’s end zone for two points. At 16-9 the Gators were still feeling good.
“We’ve been working on that all season,” Zuniga said. “Just dipping that shoulder in, get a good jump and go. It feels great to make a play, come in and make an impact.”
After that play, however, the wheels started to fall off.
After one quarter of play Alabama has a 16-9 edge but had -7 yards of offense, but 84 yards on two interception returns.
The second quarter they right the ship. Alabama scored 17 points on 179 yards of offense before halftime to take a 33-16 lead into the locker room. The 33 points are the most any team has scored in the first half of the SEC Championship game. Florida wasn’t helping their own cause, handing Bama 23 points off of turnovers (including the blocked punt) in the first half.
Florida didn’t fold. The defense came out of the locker room and promptly forced Alabama into a three and out. The Gators then started moving. Lamical Perine took a screen pass 32-yards all the way down to the two-yard line. Unfortunately, only 2-10 Rutgers is a worse red zone offense that the Gators.
Jordan Scarlett was stopped for no gain on first down. Brandon Powell gained one yard on a sweep and Scarlett was met at the top of the pile he was attempting to sky over at the one-yard line for a loss. McElwain elected to go for it on fourth down. A field goal would have made it a two-possession game, but the potential to score a touchdown and really swing momentum enticed him. Appleby’s attempt to find Deandre Goolsby failed.
Alabama promptly gobbled up the 98-yards that sat between them and a touchdown in eight shorts plays and the game was over.
“It was a huge momentum swing for us,” Bama cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “When we stopped them down there, it’s a huge stop, being down on the one yard line and not being able to score. Then that 98-yard drive kind of took the wind out of their defense.”
The Tide tacked on more and more. The 38-point loss is the second most lopsided loss in SEC history behind Auburn and Cam Newton’s 39-point win over South Carolina in 2010.
Their heads hung in the locker room. It’s another year of getting close only to be put in your place by the baddest team in college football. It’s a sobering loss, one that they won’t soon forget.
CeCe Jefferson stood up and walked over to blue and yellow confetti on the Georgia Dome turf. He bent down, picked up a couple of pieces, glanced once more at Alabama players dancing with SEC signs stretched over their heads and put the confetti in his helmet. The confetti and images will serve as a reminder of the way the team felt leaving the field on Saturday and fuel to make sure they never feel that way again.