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One night a few years back, I decided to surprise my mom, and came home for an unexpected visit. There was no ulterior motive, no need for money or a free a meal (at least that she knew about). I just genuinely wanted to stop in and say hi.
When I walked in the house, I was greeted by you guessed it, a surprised mom at the front door.
After a few minutes of small-talk, I did what I always do at her house, flipped on the TV and started channel surfing, before settling on a New York Yankees playoff game. The Yanks were playing the Indians in an elimination game, and were all but dead in the water. As a Red Sox fan, I wanted to soak in every second of their season ending.
Yet the second I put the game on, my mom piped up, “No, no, I don’t want to watch this. Turn it off, I can’t stand to watch the Yankees. They’re going to come back and win. They always do.” Keep in mind, this was the 6th inning and they were down 6-2.
“You’re kidding mom, right?” I said. Indeed she was not. Her house, her rules and she was putting her foot down. The game went off.
Reading the above, I know what you’re thinking. Why would I care about a 2007 New York Yankees playoff game, and what could it possibly have to do with Saturday’s SEC Championship game?
It is this:
In sports, there are no cosmic forces that make great teams great, and make their opponents mushier than a 16-year-old guy during the last dance at his junior prom. The reason the Yankees lost that night was simple, the team they were playing was better. That’s all.
But for people like my mom, details like that usually don’t matter. At least not as much as peripheral things, like the name on the front of the jersey, and what history tells us we should expect to happen when we sit down to watch these games. That night it didn’t matter that the Yankees were well behind late in the game. In her mind the Yankees were going to win because that’s what they always did. Because they were the New York Yankees.
Which brings us to Saturday night, and the Florida-Alabama game.
I said in early October that Alabama was the best team in college football and have stuck by it all year. I’m not telling you again to brag. I’m just saying it because from the beginning I’ve thought they were the most balanced and talented team in the sport. And in any sport the best team wins more often than not. A lot more than often, as a matter of fact.
Yet as this weekend’s SEC game approached, people continued to look away from the Tide’s full season body of work, and across the sideline at their opponents.
Why? Because the team they were playing had jerseys that said “Florida,” on the front, with Tim Tebow at quarterback and Urban Meyer calling the shots. For a lot of people, seeing Florida on the jersey and Tebow do the Gator chomp was enough to swing them that way. That’s just how it always seemed to be. Florida came through when it really mattered.
But like the New York Yankees a few October’s ago, there was no magic secret to their success, no hypothetical switch the Gators could turn on when they needed to. On Saturday, they looked at the team lining up across from them, and for the first time in two years saw more talented players looking back.
Alabama won the SEC Championship game 32-13 Saturday evening, and if you watched the game, it really wasn’t that close. Of course, if you’ve watched all season, you weren’t surprised either.
The Tide set the tone early, and by their second drive of the game, there was no looking back. As a matter of fact, for my money, the course of this game changed on one play.
With Alabama up 3-0, the Tide ran the ball to the left side, with center William Vlachos pulling as the lead blocker. Vlachos turned the corner and popped Florida All-American linebacker Brandon Spikes right in the mouth, and did it with such force I was surprised Verne Lundquist didn’t serenade it with his best: “Brandon Spikes…How do, you do?”
Even though the play went for just a few yards, it was the turning point in the game. For the first time in two years, Florida wasn’t going to be the bully in this one, but the bullied. As the game continued, the Tide’s relentless physical play wore on the Gators, and they stopped doing the simple things that make them Florida, that have made them champions. Even the biggest bully doesn’t like when the sand gets kicked in their face, and Florida was no exception Saturday.
In the process, the Tide did to the Gators what they’ve done to everybody all season. They ran the ball right at them, played solid defense and were mistake free with the football. There were no gimmicks or trick plays, and even if Carlos Dunlap had showed up in pads, he wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Alabama simply exerted their will on the opposition, and Florida had no answer. The better team won Saturday night. They almost always do.
For Alabama it was another ho-hum victory in a season full of them. Sure there were a few players who stood out more than others, but as always the Tide got this win as a team. Yeh, Mark Ingram (or as I like to call him Carlton Banks… Come on look at the guy, he looks just like him!!) rushed for 113 yards and Greg McElroy threw for 239 as well. But Alabama won this game with contributions from all over the field.
Tight end Colin Peek had only 23 catches on the season, but saved maybe his best for Saturday. When he caught a slightly errant McElroy pass over his shoulder for a touchdown, it put the Tide up 26-13 early in the 3rd quarter, and there was really no looking back.
On the other side of the ball, Javier Arenas was held in check as a return man, but the 5’8 cornerback made a game-changing interception on defense, killing a Florida scoring drive in the 4th quarter.
You know who I honestly think made the biggest play of the game for Alabama? The punter P.J. Fitzgerald. Yes the punter! Early in the 2nd quarter, Alabama’s vaunted coverage unit got beat to the outside, and it looked for sure like Brandon James was going to take Fitzgerald's kick to the house. But the punter- who seems about as physically intimidating as Clay Aiken- stepped in and made a touchdown saving tackle. If James scores on the play, it’s 10-9 Florida less than 20 minutes into the game. Instead three plays later the Gators were forced into another punt.
As for Florida, it was a sad way to the see the Tim Tebow era all but come to an end. The guy has meant a lot to the game over the last four years and has been a lightning rod for fans envy and angst. Whether you love or hate him, as time ticked down in this game and tears started to trickle down Tebow’s face, you couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.
Even in defeat Tebow stayed humble, acknowledging Alabama, Nick Saban and McElroy even as he was choking on his own words. Tebow went from a boy to a man on Saturday night, and learned that life isn’t scripted for anyone. Even the greatest of men, let alone football players, have to deal with hardship and defeat. I have no doubt Tebow will bounce back, he’s too mentally tough not to. Unfortunately he learned, just like my mom did a few years ago, there’s no secret formula, even for the greats. Sometimes you just face a better opponent.
You know what the most telling part of this whole game was for me? It wasn’t the final stats or talk of the National Championship or a Heisman Trophy.
No for me it was this: During every game I watch in any sport, I always keep a notebook. You never know when you’ll hear a funny quote, or see something you’ll never see again. But I also keep the journal to write down any plays, penalties or game-changing events that I think might be important to the final outcome.
But when I looked at the notebook after this game, I noticed a funny thing: I hadn’t written down a single note the entire 4th quarter. This wasn’t intentional, there was just nothing to write. Alabama was in the driver’s seat and wasn’t looking back.
Quite honestly they haven’t looked back much all season but also have never looked too far ahead. That’s just Nick Saban does things.
I guess now they really have no choice but to look ahead. They’ve proven themselves to be the best team in the SEC. Now, there’s only team keeping them from being the best anywhere.
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