Alabama defense dominant against Florida

photo Alabama defensive back Landon Collins

As overwhelming as Alabama was offensively during Saturday's 42-21 whipping of Florida, was the Crimson Tide defense not equally as stout?

Alabama's 42 points were reflective of an attack that shredded the Gators for 645 yards, the most ever allowed by Florida. Yet the 21 points yielded by the Tide were more about Alabama's four offensive turnovers than a defense that held the Gators to 107 rushing yards and 93 passing yards.

"The performance on defense was really good," Alabama junior safety Landon Collins said. "We had communication going on all over the field. We stayed in tune with each other, and we had great composure."

Of the 55 plays run by the Gators under new offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, only one gained more than 18 yards against Kirby Smart's defense. That was the 28-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Driskel to Valdez Showers less than four minutes into the game that produced a 7-7 tie.

Florida's first score capped a 31-yard drive that was set up by Gators cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III recovering a Kenyan Drake fumble.

The Gators took a 14-7 lead two minutes later when Florida safety Keanu Neal returned a DeAndre White fumble 49 yards for the touchdown. Florida was down just 21-14 at halftime despite having 105 yards compared to Alabama's 335, and the Gators struck early in the third quarter when linebacker Antonio Morrison returned a tipped Blake Sims interception to Alabama's 16 and Driskel ran it in from 14 yards out two plays later.

"We came out in the second half and gave them a quick seven, but that was what it was," senior inside linebacker Trey DePriest said. "I'm not going to blame it on a coach, but Coach Smart said he put us in a bad call. We still should have reacted better, but then we had a really solid second half."

After Florida pulled even, Alabama responded with a pair of drives that contained 24 plays for 146 yards and resulted in two touchdowns that put the game away. In between, the Crimson Tide defense forced an impressive three-and--out, stuffing Matt Jones for no gain on third-and-2.

Saturday was billed as a potential receiving showdown between Alabama's Amari Cooper and Florida's Demarcus Robinson, but Crimson Tide freshman cornerback Tony Brown did not let that materialize. Faced with covering Robinson most of the game, Brown held him to one catch for four yards through three quarters.

Robinson, who torched Kentucky for 15 receptions for 216 yards the week before, finished with two catches for 14 yards, or 187 yards fewer than Cooper compiled.

"Tony Brown did a really good job," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "We didn't give up any explosive plays. Tony is making a lot of progress, and he's playing with a lot more consistency. He has a lot better idea of what he's supposed to do, and how he's supposed to do it."

Tide tidbits

Sims was named Sunday as the Walter Camp Foundation's national offensive player of the week after throwing for 445 yards and four touchdowns Saturday. ... Brown started for sophomore Eddie Jackson, who Saban hopes can heal up during this off week. ... Redshirt sophomore kicker Adam Griffith is 7-for-8 on field-goal attempts this season after missing a 45-yarder in the first quarter. ... The Crimson Tide remained No. 3 in the Associated Press poll Sunday and No. 2 in the USA Today poll.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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