On a night when Alabama survived a 52-46 shootout over Florida in the SEC Championship Game, the Tide’s hardest hit came from an offensive player.
Alabama’s high-flying offense hardly stalled early on as it set an SEC Championship Game record with 35 first-half points. The Tide recorded touchdowns on five of its six first-half possessions. The only time Alabama failed to find the end zone before the break came when quarterback Mac Jones was intercepted by Trey Dean III on the Tide's second drive of the game.
Although, Alabama didn’t end up paying for the mistake.
During the interception return, the Florida defensive back was clocked by Alabama receiver John Metchie III, who forced a fumble, allowing DeVonta Smith to recover it for the Tide at the Gators’ 31-yard line. Jones then hit Smith for a 31-yard touchdown the following play to give Alabama a 14-7 lead.
"That was a great play, no doubt,” head coach Nick Saban said of Metchie’s hit. “I mean, not a great play for us, for them to get an interception. But for guys to keep hustling. We do every day for the first five minutes of practice, we do maybe eight or nine different sort of take-care-of-the-ball-type drills. (Metchie’s) always on the other end of that... He knows exactly what the defensive players are trying to do to get the ball out because we do it every day.”
Saban wasn’t the only one who appreciated the leveling blow. Hard-hitting Alabama safety Jordan Battle praised his teammate while joking that Metchie might need to make a positional switch.
"He might have converted to the defensive side of the ball after that hit," Battle said. "That was a great hit, great moment in the game. They caught an interception. Then we turned the momentum right around when Metchie hit him. That was a great turnover by the offense.”
Metchie also made some plays on the offensive side of the ball, recording four receptions for 62 yards.
Najee Harris is a born receiver
Even after tallying five touchdowns and taking home MVP honors Saturday night, Najee Harris shrugged off any of the Heisman talk that came his way. The senior running back is Alabama’s all-time leading rusher and leads the nation with 24 touchdowns, but he's perfectly fine with Jones and Smith sharing the bulk of the national spotlight.
However, when it comes to his receiving skills, Harris is a bit less modest. The former five-star recruit was taken back by a question of whether he returned for his senior season to show he can catch the ball. As far as Harris is concerned, he’s proved that a long time ago.
“No. I’ve been catching the ball since birth,” Harris said. “What are you talking about, man? Some people don’t expect it because of the running back thing. The slogan is like, ‘OK, well can he catch?’ But I’ve been catching the ball since I was in the fetus position.”
Harris recorded five receptions for 67 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night. Through 11 games, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound back has caught 32 balls for 316 yards and three scores. Last season, Harris tallied 27 receptions for 304 yards and seven scores through the air, the most receiving touchdowns an Alabama back has scored in a single season.
"Najee is a really good receiver,” Saban said. “He always has been a really good receiver. I think he's worked really hard to fine-tune his game as a receiver, learn how to run routes out of the backfield, option routes, different things to get open. I think he's gotten very, very good at that kind of stuff. I think our coaches have done a good job of helping him."
Saban is ‘proud as hell’ of this year’s team
Normally one to guard his praise toward his team, Saban didn’t hold back following Saturday’s victory. As confetti rained down on the Tide inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the head coach spoke glowingly of his players upon receiving the SEC Championship trophy, stating “I'm proud as hell of all of them.”
Saban took it a step further during his postgame Zoom call with reporters, reiterating his admiration for this years group while emphasizing the multiple obstacles they’ve overcome.
"I really love this team,” he said. “What we've had to kind of go through all season long, to me this is great for our fans, great for the state of Alabama. We're just excited.
"I think winning the SEC is really, really a significant thing to me, always has been. I certainly appreciate the coaches and everybody who contributed to developing and helping this team have success this year. Our coaching staff did a phenomenal job. We have a great support staff, as well."
Hearing that praise went a long way for Tide players.
“That touches our hearts because we don’t hear nice things like that from Coach Saban all the time,” Battle said. “Usually, it’s criticism. When we hear things like that it’s like, ‘Ah man, he actually loves us.’ And we love to hear that.”
It’s been a wild ride for Alabama players this year. The team had its spring practice canceled due to COVID-19. During the summer, players rallied in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. When players were finally able to return to the field, they managed to remain through a grueling 10-game, SEC-only schedule before beating a talented Florida team Saturday night for the conference title.
“A lot of stuff has happened this year,” Harris said. “With COVID, of course, all that injustice stuff happened. A lot of distractions, a lot of stuff going on that we should take seriously. But just to have these (championship) hats on, it’s an honor. At first, we didn’t know if we were going to play or not.”
Tidebits
— Alabama claimed an SEC-leading 28th conference championship. The Tide has more SEC Championships than any other school and has captured its sixth conference title in the last nine seasons.
— Saturday’s victory over Florida was the Crimson Tide’s 31st consecutive victory over an SEC Eastern Division opponent, dating back to a 35-21 loss at then-No. 19 South Carolina on Oct. 9, 2010. The 31 wins include a 6-0 record in SEC Championship Games.
— Alabama put 52 points on the board Saturday, marking the third-straight game it has scored 50-plus.
— Jones passed for a championship game record 418 yards and 33 completions against Florida. His 400-yard performance against the Gators was his fourth this season.
