Alabama Hands Florida Comprehensive Defeat, Reaffirms Place As Nation’s Best Team

This is the Alabama everyone feared Nick Saban would build.

Whine about oversigning if you want. Complain about how bloodless Saban can seem if it makes you feel better. But don’t dispute this: Alabama is the best team in college football right now, and a team that can turn a squad full of fleet five-star recruits into mincemeat despite all but forgetting about the accelerator in the second half.

Alabama ran for 170 yards, which is more or less an average night, passed for just 73, and gained just 54 yards in the second half, 37 of them on the game’s final drive. Its greatest weakness is still its secondary, which allowed John Brantley to probe for and find open men in the second half as Florida racked up 222 yards after halftime. Greg McElroy apparently compared himself to Trent Dilfer in a conversation with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson. And none of that stopped ‘Bama from crushing a top-25 team by 25 points.

Truth is, Florida could have made this very close. Two turnovers at Alabama’s 1 kept the score low, as did a couple of calls on goal line runs that seemed like 50-50 plays. The Gators had to settle in the red zone, but moved the ball as well as they have with Brantley at quarterback, and can take heart that even on a bad day on the road, their offense and defense looked good for stretches against the nation’s very best team.

Perhaps, should Florida continue improving and maturing, these two teams will meet in Atlanta for the SEC Championship to write a third chapter in that saga. Perhaps, should talent and potential evolve into potency and excellence, Florida will round into the sort of team that can give Alabama a scare. Perhaps, should the turnover margin not be +4 in Alabama’s favor, a rematch would be a much closer affair.

But don’t count on it. Alabama has a defense that will age and grow, too, and a rushing attack that will only get stronger as Mark Ingram’s knee surgery becomes a more distant memory. And under Saban, Alabama seems intent on improving every week.

The Crimson Tide is an odd moniker for this squad, one that just keeps rolling in, no ebb in sight.