ALABAMA FOOTBALL: Poor 4th Quarter still haunts Tide a year later

TUSCALOOSA — Alabama was 15 minutes away from playing for a national championship last season.

Then Tim Tebow and the Florida offense took it away with an epic fourth quarter in the SEC Championship Game.

The second-ranked Crimson Tide remember. They are eager to take what they’ve learned back to the Georgia Dome against the top-ranked Gators this Saturday.

The Tide has had 51 weeks to examine the reasons Florida outscored Alabama 14-0 in the fourth quarter and earned a 31-20 victory.

Conditioning. Talent. Ball control. Discipline. Destiny. They all played roles.

Tebow remembers a sense of togetherness that pulled the Gators through.

“In that fourth quarter, I think we really rallied together and really came up with a lot of heart, found ways to finish,” Tebow said Monday. “I’m really proud of my teammates for that. It was just kind of a togetherness that we had that we were going to go in there and get this done because we care about each other, because we care that this means so much to each of us and we cannot not finish this game. It means too much for us.

“And that’s our approach and making sure we did everything we could. We weren’t going to leave anything on that field. That’s what I’m most proud about.”

Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain said some defenders tried to do too much instead of concentrating on their assignment.

“We got too caught up in the moment. Coach said what makes a great player is somebody who is capable of doing what he’s been doing even when things get tough,” McClain said.
“And I think our guys got caught up in the pressure and they wanted to be the hero and make the extra effort play instead of just doing what we had to do and doing what our job was and just let our defense take care of itself.”

That was particularly the case on third down. For the game, the Gators were 7-of-13 on third down. In the fourth quarter, however, they had the ball nearly 12 minutes because they were 4-for-4 on third down.

Alabama coach Nick Saban noted one of those conversions was on a facemask penalty after Jeff Demps was stopped for a 3-yard gain on third-and-4 near midfield.

“Critical third-down situation kind of changed the momentum of the game when we got a facemask penalty and would have had a chance to stop them,” Saban said. “They went in and scored. And that sort of changed the momentum of the game. Not the penalty itself, but the fact that it kept the drive alive and they finished the drive.”

Florida took the lead with that touchdown, with 9:21 remaining.

It was Alabama offense’s turn to answer. But the Florida defense forced a three-and-out.

“We knew all year that we weren’t really a come-from-behind, two-minute type offense that we were needing to turn into,” left guard Mike Johnson said. “When they went up in the fourth quarter, we needed to put a drive together and put points on the board. They were prepared to stop us. Hopefully, we’re better equipped for that this year. We’ve just got to put it together this time.”

Johnson said having been through that situation a year ago should help on Saturday.

“Last year we were kind of wide-eyed and happy to be there, wanting to put together a good game,” the senior said.

“At the same time, we kind of lacked that hunger, probably, that we really needed to get us over the top. I don’t think you’ll see that this year. I think we’re pretty hungry for this championship. We want to get things done.”

Saban said being able to finish in the fourth quarter is an important part of being a great team.

“That’s why Florida had the success and won the championship, because they were able to do it,” the coach said. “It’s going to be important for us to be able to do it if we’re going to have a chance to do that.”

Javier Arenas said finishing in the fourth quarter has been an area that Alabama has shown improvement.

“I think we lost some of our way in the fourth quarter last year and that’s all there is to it,” Arenas said. “We have to stay focused and stay poised in the fourth quarter this year.”

The numbers bear out Arenas’ assertion that Alabama is better this year. Last Friday, the Crimson Tide executed a 79-yard, 15-play drive in the fourth quarter that beat Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

That’s only the latest example. Alabama scored the most points (102) and gave up the fewest (24) of any team in the SEC in the fourth quarter this season. That’s a plus-78 points margin. Second in the SEC, not surprisingly, is Florida at plus-65.

On Monday, McClain sounded eager to apply a tough lesson the Tide learned a year ago.

“If everybody would have just done what they had to do in the fourth quarter instead of getting caught up in the moment, I think we would have been fine,” McClain said.
“I think the guys understand that now and everybody is trying to play their role the best they can instead of trying to be the hero.”