SEC Championship, First Quarter: Already Seasick

The first quarter of the SEC championship game has already hit the motion sickness threshold. The second quarter will now be sponsored by Dramamine to help you handle the momentum swings.
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↵Florida came out and confidently shut down Alabama’s first drive, then embarked on a leisurely scoring drive to take the lead 7-0. The script, at this point, appeared to be Florida’s: get out to an early lead, pour points on, fill in blanks for a repeat of every game Florida’s played since their loss to Ole Miss.
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↵LUUUUURCH. That’s the noise of the planet suddenly tilting Bama’s way. First Julio Jones got loose on a 54 yard pass play down the right sideline; then Glen Coffee knifed in the tying TD through a clearly stunned Florida defense to tie it up. A subsequent field goal, and Alabama slammed the balance of power back in their favor.
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↵Of particular note: Alabama isn’t shorting out Florida’s offense with pressure. If anything, it’s coverage that has the Gators flummoxed. On 3rd and 5, Alabama dropped NINE players into coverage. Nine. Tebow had a block and a half to himself on the right side for an easy running first down, but instead misfired to Jeff Demps on a streak route deep. Thus far, the strategic advantage is Nick Saban’s.↵