Florida can’t overcome early interceptions against Tide

Alabama: The offense struggled in the first half against Florida’s highly ranked defense, and the defense surrendered a couple of long scoring drives. Deshaun Watson bolstered his Heisman Trophy candidacy by passing for three touchdowns and running for two more scores.

However it will take more than a QB to close the gap, which has not been this wide in the SEC since Spurrier’s Gators won 4 conference titles in a row (93-96).

Sports books have Alabama opening as a 14-point favorite over No. 4 Washington in the Peach Bowl on December 31 and the Tide are reportedly a touchdown favorite against the victor of the other playoff semifinal between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State. When a reporter suggested that Hurts was playing high school football at this time last season, Hurts interjected, reminding him that his high school was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The win also caps off an undefeated season as Alabama will go into the College Football Playoff as the top seed.

There are years when a bowl game under the current circumstances don’t mean much.

Alabama responded with three interceptions in the first half, and a ninety-eight yard return for a touchdown early in the second half in what’s being called a lopsided rout of Florida.

One Alabama running back – Bo Scarbrough – was named a Player of the Week on offense.

Jacobs would find a different way to score in the second quarter, running the ball in to give Alabama a 33-9 lead.

The second quarter belonged to Alabama.

The Huskies rank fourth nationally in scoring offense, averaging 44.5 points per game.

Can Alabama be beat? They have plenty enough by themself. The Florida offense finished with a net of zero yards rushing. The guys have got to go compete, not be afraid.

“It’s big, man”, Foster said of Alabama’s third straight SEC title and thanking his teammates during the postgame celebration.

So how do you move the ball? There are two freshman scholarship quarterbacks on roster this year and Jim McElwain hints we may see one in the Gators’ next game. He fumbled his first snap on Saturday. But why complain? Appleby is what he is; the best of a bad crop of quarterbacks; a Purdue transfer who ironically was benched by the Boilermakers after a three-pick game against Virginia Tech last season.

(11:55) Gehrig Dieter catches a 6 yard pass from Jalen Hurts for a touchdown. “If you’re on the offensive line, as a unit, you’re going to progress and you’re going to gel and you’re going to get better each and every week”.

A 24-point underdog, Florida had a few shining moments against the nation’s only unbeaten Power Five team.

Three first half interceptions, a blocked punt for a touchdown and before halftime the SEC Championship was over. Alabama has been known to give up several before finally getting its bearing. With Nick Saban’s blessing that he’s ready to be a head coach again, it appears Kiffin will have a new address somewhere in 2017. That was the case against Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly this season, against Clemson’s Deshaun Watson in 2015 and the case against guys like Johnny Manziel and Trevor Knight (with Oklahoma). One return went 47 yards. The Sooners (10-2), like Penn State and USC, are on a significant win streak – they have not lost since a Week 3 beat down to Ohio State.

The 25 annual SEC championship game was the final piece of evidence that while Alabama is by far the most complete team not in the NFL and is the clear favorite to win the national championship, the best conference this season is the Big 10 with four teams in the top seven of the College Football Playoff rankings.