Defense carries No. 2 Alabama to second straight SEC title

ALABAMA: Derrick Henry 2 run (Griffith kick). Ridley caught the ball with two defenders guarding him at the Florida 3-yard line. The Tide are ninth in the country for time of possession with 33:28 per game this season.

“Not real excited about playing these creatures”, McElwain joked Friday. He had just won his second national title with the Crimson Tide in 2011 and was enjoying his time in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Saban was in an especially grumpy mood Friday, barely cracking a smile as he coldly, methodically discussed what it takes to stay on top, year after year after year. “You have to have the right psychological disposition to be able to sustain all those ups and downs and look at every one of those challenges as a test, not a sign of what’s going to happen”. Florida finished with a 10-2 regular season record in McElwain’s first year at the helm after the Gators posted an 11-13 record over the past two seasons. If the Crimson Tide can get big plays from Coker and Henry they have a good chance to run all over the Gators defense. Against an Alabama team that has won nine in a row and scores 34 per game, it’s just not going to be enough.

Gators leading rusher Kelvin Taylor has played his best in recent weeks, posting four of his five 100-yard performances in the last five games.

“After the Ole Miss loss, we really came together”. Coker is the newest of the great QBs that Nick Saban has produced at Alabama. A non-conference schedule with two FCS schools and a bad loss to a bad SC team probably spells their doom regardless. “They’ve been here since we got here and they’re all over the lot and making sure everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing”.

The SEC Championship game offers an interesting potential scenario: if Alabama loses, will the CFP committee leave the SEC out of the Final Four? Points will be at a premium Saturday.

USC managed to get through the Steve Sarkasian fiasco to reach the PAC-12 title game and interim coach Clay Helton had the interim tag removed to the delight of his team. It was the first Alabama touchdown of the game and gave the Crimson Tide a 12-7 lead which they took into halftime. Key play: Florida’s Jarrad Davis bailed out Alabama with a personal-foul penalty on a third-and-10 incomplete pass.

“I think when you have anyone on your staff before, who’s been a part of the team, helped you build the program, and Jim was on our staff when we were building a program, did a fantastic job for us”. It led to an opportunity that changed McElwain’s life, as the call turned into a job on Saban’s coaching staff at Alabama.