Guerry Clegg: Bama lives up to expectations with beat down of Gators
ATLANTA --
As confetti rained down inside the Georgia Dome, Alabama players held up mock newspaper pages declaring them repeat Southeastern Conference champions.
"BACK FOR SECONDS"
Actually, for the Crimson Tide's seniors and redshirt juniors, Saturday's 29-15 worse-than-score-indicated rout of Florida gave them their third SEC championship. And it was the Tide's fourth in their last seven seasons under Nick Saban. It has become such a habit that it almost seems routine.
That, and the fact that Bama's sights are higher than merely winning the conference title, it might be tempting to take such an accomplishment for granted. Especially in a season when the rest of the conference has been startlingly underwhelming.
Ho-hum, Bama wins the SEC again, right?
Well, not hardly.
"Our league is a tough league, and we beat each other up," Saban said. "And then people say, 'Well, you don't have that many ranked teams this year.' Well, that's because we beat each other up. When we played a lot of teams this year, they were ranked in the top 15 or the top 10. Maybe they're not now because we all have to play each other."
How this Alabama team matches up to the ones that won national championships in 2009, 2011 and 2012 remains to be seen. But one thing is evident. After losing to Ohio State last season in the playoff semifinals, Saban made it a point for the Crimson Tide to regain it edge.
"We need to get our mojo back. We need to get our identity back," Saban said last spring. "We used to be a team nobody wanted to play. We've had a few distractions with the last couple years that I think have affected how we've finished the season."
Not many teams are going to watch the tape of Saturday's game and want to play the Tide. Again, forget the two-touchdown final outcome. The Gators had an 85-yard punt return by Antonio Callaway for one touchdown, then hit a 46-yard pass late in the game to make it appear close.
In between, the Tide administered the Gators one of the all-time beat-downs. The Gators' leading rusher was Kelvin Taylor with 8 yards. Florida had 168 yards on six plays. Other than that, the Gators had 12 yards on 39 plays.
Bama running back Kenyan Drake, for one, was not a bit surprised.
"I mean, I watch them every day in practice," Drake said. "We go against the best defense in practice, in my opinion. It's no surprise because we pride ourselves on doing things and they try to stop us. You see that and when you go out in a game you expect it."
Said quarterback Jake Coker, "It's one helluva practice, every day, I'll tell you that."
There was one stretch, from the beginning of the second quarter until the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter, where the Gators ran 23 plays for minus-19 yards. The only thing that prevented eight straight three-and-out possessions was Marlon Humphrey's interception on second down.
"They took it to us a little bit," Florida coach Jim McElwain said.
The Tide has dominated with a familiar formula of suffocating defense and a powerful running game. What's different, though, is their dependence on one player. Derrick Henry had 44 carries Saturday for 189 yards. This followed the Iron Bowl in which Henry had 46 carries. That's 90 carries in two games.
"That's crazy," Drake said. "I don't think I've had 90 carries this whole season. I was telling him, 'You're the workhorse.' That's the kind of player and person he is. Off the field, he really works hard and takes pride in everything he does. So it doesn't surprise me that he can be a workhorse like this."
Henry might have already had the Heisman locked up. Saturday's performance might have garnered a few of the remaining votes that had not been sent in.
"My main goal is finishing and helping this team win," Henry said. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to help this team win. Whether it's me running the ball, catching the ball or pass blocking, I just want this team to win. It's a team effort. All the success I've had, I credit my teammates and coaches and God, because I couldn't do it without them."
The four-team playoff will be announced today. The only question for the Tide is who they will play. It doesn't matter, really. Either way, they have to win two games. Right now, there may be no team less desirable to play than Alabama.
"We can't lose focus," Coker said. "We have to make sure our minds are on the game the whole time. No distractions. Keep the distractions to a minimum and just do our jobs."
The biggest potential distraction could involve defensive coordinator Kirby Smart. Georgia is expected to name Smart as the successor to Mark Richt as head coach. That announcement could come as early as this afternoon or evening.
But it's not as if any of the players will be surprised.
"There's no secrets," cornerback Cyrus Jones said.
Several Alabama players expressed confidence that Smart will be a successful head coach.
"His passion for the game is something that each player can't help but gravitate to," Jones said. "He loves the game. You see that in whatever we're doing whether we're at a meeting or at practice. He lives and breathes football."
Right now, though, Smart and the Crimson Tide have some unfinished business.
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Bama lives up to expectations with beat down of Gators ."