Alabama Football vs. Florida Postgame Notes
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
GAME CAPTAINS: Alabama's captains for the 2015 Southeastern Conference Championship Game are juniors Derrick Henry and A'Shawn Robinson, and senior Ryan Kelly. The Gators won the opening toss and elected to receive, with the Crimson Tide defending the North end zone.
SERIES HISTORY: With the win, Alabama extends its lead in the series with Florida to 25-14 (actual 26-14), evening the record with the Gators in SEC Championship Games at 4-4. Since a Florida win in the 2008 SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide has won the last five meetings.
CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS: With the win over Florida, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has won his last seven "championship" games with wins over Florida (2009 and 2015), Georgia (2012) and Missouri (2014) in SEC Championship Games and victories over Texas (2009), LSU (2011) and Notre Dame (2012) in National Championship contests. Overall, Saban is 10-1 in those games during his coaching stints at both Alabama and LSU with six SEC titles and four national titles.
BEATING THE BEST: With the win over Florida, Alabama owns a 38-13 (.745) mark against the Associated Press top 25, including a 20-7 (.741) record against AP top-10 teams following the win over No. 4 LSU on Nov. 7.
SABAN VS. FLORIDA: With the win, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 7-4 in his career against the Florida Gators, including a 2-1 mark in SEC Championship Games. He owns a 5-1 mark against Florida at Alabama with his only loss coming in the 2008 SEC Championship Game. Saban's LSU teams went a combined 2-3 from 2000-04.
ALABAMA WINS 25TH SEC CHAMPIONSHIP: With the win, Alabama claimed an SEC-leading 25th conference football title. The Crimson Tide has more SEC Championships than any other school and is earned its second conference title in as many seasons. Alabama won the first SEC Championship during the 1933 season as head coach Frank Thomas led the Crimson Tide to 5-0-1 conference record. Thomas led Alabama to four SEC Championships. Paul "Bear" Bryant directed the Crimson Tide to six national championships and 13 SEC titles during his 25-year run in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won five straight SEC Championships from 1971-75 and captured eight of the 10 SEC Championships from 1970-79. In addition to Thomas and Bryant, Alabama has had five other coaches win SEC Championships, including Harold "Red" Drew (1953), Bill Curry (1989), Gene Stallings (1992), Mike DuBose (1999) and Nick Saban (2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015). In addition to its 25 SEC Championships, Alabama also won four Southern Conference titles (1924, 1925, 1926 and 1930), giving the school 29 conference football championships.
SABAN VS. SEC OPPONENTS: With the win, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban owns a 95-26 (.785) career record in 121 games against SEC opponents spanning three different schools (Michigan State, LSU and Alabama). While at Alabama, he has compiled a 65-13 (.833) record against conference foes, and is outscoring opponents by a staggering 3,141-1,200, or 40.2-15.4 points per game. Of his 13 losses against SEC opponents while at Alabama, all but two (Florida, 2008 and South Carolina, 2010) have been by seven points or less. Saban's first matchup with an SEC team came in the 1995 Independence Bowl against LSU, where his Michigan State Spartans fell, 45-26, to the Tigers. He would later coach LSU to a 30-12 overall record against SEC opponents.
SABAN IN NEUTRAL SITE CONTESTS: With the win, Nick Saban owns a 20-10 (.667) overall mark in games played at a neutral site, including regular season and postseason games. While at Alabama, he has put together a 15-5 (.800) mark in neutral site contests. He owned a 0-3 mark to start his career at Michigan State before improving upon that mark with a 5-2 record while at LSU.
DOME SWEET DOME: With the win, the Crimson Tide is 19-7-1 (.704) in domed stadiums, including a 10-2 mark since 2009 and 11-4 in Coach Saban's tenure. Alabama opened the season in a dome, defeating Wisconsin, 35-17, in the AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Tide had three appearances in domes in 2014, including the season opener against West Virginia and the SEC Championship versus Missouri - both of which were in Atlanta - and the season finale against Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
NEUTRAL SITES: With the win, Alabama is 78-48-4 (.615) in neutral site contests. The list includes all Alabama-Auburn games not played on campus, including Legion Field from 1948-88. UA kicked off the 2015 season in Arlington, Texas, for the AdvoCare Classic against Wisconsin. The Crimson Tide is 13-4 in neutral site games during head coach Nick Saban's tenure at Alabama.
94-6 UNDER SABAN WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF: Alabama led Florida, 12-7, a halftime on the way to a 29-15 victory over the Gators. Under head coach Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide is 94-6 (.940) when leading at the half. Alabama has led at the half in 10 of its 13 games this year, trailing Ole Miss and Arkansas, and tied at 7-7 versus Tennessee at the midway point. UA had converted 36 straight halftime leads into wins before falling at Auburn on Nov. 30, 2013. The Crimson Tide had converted 28 consecutive halftime leads into victories before seeing that streak snapped in 2010 against LSU. In 2007, Alabama held a 20-17 halftime lead before losing to LSU, 41-34, in 2007 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. In 2010, the Tide led 10-3 at the half before the Tigers rallied for a 24-20 win in Death Valley. Alabama lost 28-27 to Auburn to close out the 2010 season, after leading 24-7 at the half. The Crimson Tide is 4-8 under Saban when trailing at halftime after coming away with a victory against Arkansas on Oct. 10, despite trailing 7-3 at half. The four wins in the Saban era when trailing at the half: 34-24 over No. 7 Virginia Tech in 2009 (in Atlanta); a 24-15 over No. 9 LSU in 2009; 24-20 at Arkansas in 2010; 27-14 vs. Arkansas in 2015. His Tide teams are 4-3 when tied at halftime, and Alabama's four wins under Saban when tied at halftime: at LSU in 2008, (27-21), at Auburn in 2009 (26-21), against Tennessee in 2011 (37-6) and against Tennessee this season (19-14).
2015 DEFENSE MOVES UP SEASON SACKS LIST: The Alabama defense recorded five sacks in today's SEC Championship Game to set the 2015 season total at 46. The 46 sacks is the fourth-most in a single season. The Alabama all-time mark is 60 by the 1988 team.
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 300: Alabama limited Florida to 180 yards of total offense, the ninth time the Tide has kept a team under 300 in 2015. In head coach Nick Saban's 121-game tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide has limited opponents to under 300 yards of total offense 75 times, or 61.98 percent of the time.
HOLDING OPPONENTS UNDER 200: By holding Florida to 180 total yards, the Crimson Tide defense has held the opposing offense to fewer than 200 yards of total offense 36 times, including four times this year (Charleston Southern - 134, LSU - 182 yards, ULM - 92, Florida - 180) during head coach Nick Saban's last 108 games at the Capstone (since the start of the 2008 season).
HENRY SETS SEC SINGLE-SEASON RUSHING RECORD: Alabama tailback Derrick Henry rushed for 189 yards and now has 1,986 yards for his career to set the Southeastern Conference's all-time single-season mark for rushing yards. He passed Herschel Walker's previous record of 1,891 (385 carries) that he set during the 1981 season.
HENRY DOING IT AGAINST TOP RUN DEFENSES: Derrick Henry has stepped up to the challenge of facing some of the best rushing defenses in the nation in 2015 and has taken his game to another level. Alabama has faced eight rushing defenses that are currently ranked in the top 50 nationally and, in those games, Henry has 1,155 yards on 215 carries and 15 touchdowns for an average of 165.0 yards per game and 5.37 yards per carry. That includes 147 yards and three scores against Wisconsin's No. 6-ranked rushing defense; 210 yards and three more scores against LSU's then-No. 6 rushing defense; and 189 yards on 44 carries against Florida's defense.
Derrick Henry VS. RANKED TEAMS: Derrick Henry has had an impressive overall season, but his play against the seven ranked opponents Alabama has faced - No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 4 LSU, No. 20 Mississippi State and No. 18 Florida - has been even better. Henry is rushing for 180.9 yards per game (1,266 yards) against ranked teams, with all seven games over 125 yards and three over 200 yards (236 at A&M; 210 vs. LSU; 204 at Mississippi State). He has 198 carries against ranked teams for a 6.39 yards per carry average and 13 touchdowns.
HENRY REACHING THE END ZONE CONSISTENTLY: Derrick Henry's 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against Florida moved his consecutive games with a touchdown streak to 18, currently the longest active streak in the nation, and the longest by an SEC player in the past 20 years (eclipsing Tim Tebow's streak of 14 games from 2006-07). The streak is also the longest in Alabama history, with the previous high being 10 by Terry Davis across the 1971 and 1972 seasons from Nov. 6, 1971-Oct. 21, 1972. The last time Henry failed to notch a score was in the LSU game on Nov. 8, 2014.
HENRY TIES SEC TOUCHDOWNS RECORD: With his 2-yard plunge against Florida, Derrick Henry now has 23 touchdowns on the season. That total matches the conference's single-season mark that is held by Tim Tebow (Florida) and Tre Mason (Auburn).
HENRY SETS SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES MARK: With his 189 yards in today's contest against Florida, Derrick Henry becomes the first back in Southeastern Conference Championship Game history to rush for 100-plus yards in two different games. Henry also had 141 on 20 carries in the 2014 game against Missouri.
HENRY PASSING THE CENTURY MARK: Derrick Henry finished today's SEC Championship Game with 189 total yards to push him past the century mark for the 15th time in his career, and marks his ninth 100-plus game this season. The nine this season ties him with Trent Richardson (2011) and Mark Ingram (2009) for the most 100-yard games in a single season in UA history. His 15 career games matches the all-time mark by an Alabama back that is currently owned by Shaun Alexander and Bobby Humphrey.
FIRST HALF POINTS: With Keith Holcombe's blocked punt that went out of the end zone for a safety in today's SEC Championship Game, the Crimson Tide has scored in the first half of its last 116 games, the longest streak in the nation. The last time UA failed to score in the first half was on Sept. 29, 2007, when Alabama and Florida State headed into halftime in a scoreless tie. The Seminoles won that game, 21-14.
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: With a safety by the Alabama special teams unit on Florida's second offensive drive of the game, the Crimson Tide has now scored in 196 consecutive games - the longest streak in program history.
RUSHING TO SUCCESS: With the win over Florida, Alabama is 78-4 since the start of the 2008 season when rushing for at least 140 yards. The only losses were at Auburn in 2013, Ole Miss and Ohio State in 2014, and Ole Miss in 2015.
TWO BLOCKS SETS SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECORD: Alabama's blocked punt followed by blocked field goal marked the first time in SEC Championship Game history that a team has recorded both in the same game. In 2003, Georgia blocked a field goal and point-after-touchdown attempt against LSU.
CRIMSON TIDE BLOCKS ANOTHER PUNT: Keith Holcombe's blocked punt on the second offensive drive of the game for Florida was the Crimson Tide's third blocked punt of the season and the second that went for a safety. The first blocked punt came against Middle Tennessee going for a safety on Sept. 12. Alabama's second blocked punt came at Georgia on Oct. 3, with Minkah Fitzpatrick recovering the blocked punt and taking it in for a touchdown. The safety was also the first in an SEC Championship Game since the 2003 matchup between LSU and Georgia.
ALABAMA BLOCKS A FIELD GOAL: D.J. Pettway's blocked field goal on Florida's third offensive drive of today's SEC Championship Game was the Crimson Tide's first blocked field goal since Nov. 23, 2013, against Chattanooga. In that game, then-freshman A'Shawn Robinson blocked a Mocs three-point attempt. The blocked field goal was also the third in SEC Championship Game history, the first since the 2012 game when Alabama's field goal attempt was blocked by Georgia's Cornelius Washington.
SCOTT NAILS SEASON-LONG PUNT: JK Scott's punt of 59 yards was a new season long for the second-year punter. His previous high for this season was 58 yards, which he collected on one of his four punts against Arkansas on Oct. 10. Scott's career-long kick is 73 yards coming in the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State a season ago.
SCOTT FINDING HIS RHYTHM: Sophomore punter JK Scott punted six times for a 51.2-yard average against Florida. Scott has found his rhythm in recent weeks. He is averaging 47.6 yards per punt (33 punts for 1,572 yards) over the past seven games.
