(AP Photo/John Amis)
SEC links for Sunday:
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel called the SEC title Crimson and Over: ” Are you kidding me? The Gators actually lost? Tebow actually allowed them to lose? Surely, the gridiron gods have made some sort of terrible mistake because the Gators aren’t supposed to lose, right? Who knew it was even possible anymore?”
John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Tide rolled every way possible: “In their all-white uniforms, the Gators could have passed for Mississippi State on a bad day. Their defense was a tribute to suspended defensive end Carlos Dunlap: asleep at the wheel.”
Jeff Schultz of the AJC writes that Saban has Alabama is back on top: “It was only two years ago when the Crimson Tide lost to Louisiana Monroe. It wasn’t long ago when Nick Saban was handed a 10-year, 10-pound bag of misery and asked to do something that recent predecessors couldn’t come close to achieving: return a once-historic, suddenly lampooned program to the top.”
Pat Forde of ESPN writes on the Alabama victory: “Prevailing pregame wisdom held that the biggest difference between the No. 1 Gators and the No. 2 Tide was at quarterback. Tim Tebow was the rise-to-the-big-occasion playmaker, among the most decorated and celebrated players in college football history, chasing a second Heisman Trophy and a third national title. Meanwhile, Alabama was chugging along with this afterthought QB whom many people considered merely a game manager, not a game changer.”
Mike Herndon of the Mobile Press-Register writes that Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy silenced the doubters: “Alabama’s Greg McElroy, expected by some to play straight man in a going-away party for Florida’s Tim Tebow, instead stole the show with a 12-of-18, 239-yard performance that earned him MVP honors in Alabama’s resounding 32-13 victory in the SEC championship game.”
Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes that Alabama is just getting started: “When third quarter ended, the real party started. The Alabama sideline was bedlam: high fives, chest bumps, arms imploring the crowd to get louder, fingers thrust into the air. Alabama led 26-13, and the offense was seven minutes and 36 seconds into a drive that had already covered 78 yards in 14 plays.”
Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes that Florida had no answers: ” Alabama had plenty. Certainly, a lot more than Florida. And as a result, the Tide were able to easily squash the hopes and dreams of this special Florida team as if the Gators were ants scurrying along a sidewalk. ‘They did seem hungry, like they really wanted it,’ said cornerback Joe Haden.”
Aaron Suttles of the Tuscaloosa News writes that Bama’s defense finished the job: “Alabama shut out Florida in the second half, turning away the Gators on two consecutive drives inside the Crimson Tide red zone. Arenas’ interception, the fourth of his career, ended the first drive and the Tide held on a fourth-and-three from the 13 to stop the second.”
Peter Kerasotis writes that Florida built it up just to let it down: “It wasn’t even close. Though Florida trailed the Crimson Tide by six at halftime, the Gators never led and were never really in this SEC Championship Game, billed as a battle of two 12-0 titans, the nation’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams — a showdown that threatened to raise the roof at the Georgia Dome.It didn’t.”
