Tide closing in on title, but must first close out Gators

Dennis Dodd | December 3, 2009

Alabama hides its feelings as well as any program in the country. Nick Saban usually speaks in platitudes and generalities. He has coached up his team to spew the same clichés. But something slipped Saturday night after the Auburn game.

Mark Ingram considered the next game against Florida and where it all went wrong last December.

After five weeks of being No. 1 in 2008, after three quarters of fighting Florida, Alabama led the Gators 20-17 going into the final 15 minutes in the SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide were going to fulfill their destiny -- they were 15 minutes from playing for their first national championship in 16 years.

"I just remember we were up," Alabama's Heisman-worthy tailback recalled, "and [Tim] Tebow taking 'em down the field and scoring a touchdown. It kind felt like everything went downhill from there. Everybody panicked. No one knew what to do."

Something did indeed go wrong in that fourth quarter. Up by three, Alabama saw the ball only twice the rest of the game. One series ended with a punt, the other with an interception. Meanwhile, Florida put together two long touchdown drives to win 31-20 as Alabama was outgained 117-1 in those final 15 minutes.

The lasting image from that fateful quarter was Tebow completing all five of his passes for 73 yards, jumping into the faces of defenders and special teamers. Only Tebow could have gotten away with such histrionics. Only at Florida, it seems, could they work.

As Alabama comes to Atlanta in a similar position, playing Florida in the SEC title game, what has changed? The No. 1 Gators are favored again. Once again, they could be without a key starter. Last season, it was Percy Harvin, out with a sprained ankle. This time defensive end Carlos Dunlap has been suspended after a DUI arrest.

If anything, the Gators could be more jacked with Tebow playing his final regular-season game. There's a dynasty in play here if Florida can win its third SEC title in four years and advance to the national championship.

So where does that leave the Tide? You would think somewhere between revenge and motivation, except the platitudinous Alabama gang isn't going there.

"It's not revenge," tailback Roy Upchurch said, "because we feel like we can play with any team in the country."

Motivation?

"We've been there," Ingram said, "learned from that."

So much for panic.

We'll see come the fourth quarter. It has to end that way doesn't it? Alabama hasn't allowed more than 10 points in a fourth quarter since that night last December. Alabama hadn't been pushed all season like it was pushed last week at Auburn. It got a taste of its own blood trailing deep into that fourth quarter. It took a long drive and game-winning touchdown with 84 seconds to put another label on Alabama: Clutch.

"Those are the moments you remember," Florida's Urban Meyer said. "Those are great moments in college football. Those are the moments coaches cherish, when you get to grab your team on the sidelines and say, 'Hey, we gotta pound it in here.' "

Alabama has had its moments -- Terrence Cody's blocks against Tennessee, the rally against LSU. But nothing compared to Friday's comeback on The Plains. Nothing will do except a victory over Florida. Alabama is one of those few programs where anything short of a national championship isn't good enough and it's been 17 long years, 10 since the last SEC title.

Saban has got the program winning again, but if it fails another time in Atlanta, it's a long way back.

"The goal was to be a champion," Saban said. "I didn't say 'win a championship,' it's to be a champion. That's what we want to do here. There's really no sense of relief, complacency."

And certainly no panic. Check back, though, in the fourth quarter.