If Alabama was going to win its 22nd SEC title, it needed running back Mark Ingram to have a big game. A game where Heisman voters would take notice and people watching all across the nation would know the name “Mark Ingram” after the SEC Championship was all said and done.With three rushing touchdowns and 191 total yards, Ingram was able to help the Crimson Tide defeat the Florida Gators 32-13 in the SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome on Saturday.
“I think Mark showed a lot of resolve today because he did have a hip pointer,” said Alabama head coach Nick Saban talking about Ingram after the game. “I’m really proud of the character that he showed coming off of last week’s performance as well as coming off the injury that he had and showed a lot of mental toughness and grit out there tonight.”
Ingram and the Tide got the scoring started early as Tiffin kicked a 48-yard field goal to put Alabama up by three in the beginning of the first quarter. They were able to score again later in the first when Ingram ran for a 7-yard touchdown to go up only by nine because Tiffin missed the extra point.
Florida responded with a 12-play 56-yard drive that lead to a Caleb Sturgis 48-yard field goal to put cut the lead to six. But Bama answered later in the second quarter when quarterback Greg McElroy found Marquis Maze for a 34-yard reception and that led to a Roy Upchurch 7-yard touchdown run to put Alabama up 12-3.
“No matter what, as long as you play this game, you’re going to have ups and downs,” McElroy said McElroy who finished the night with 239 passing yards and one touchdown pass. “You always have to have faith around yourself and the people around you, in order to be completely successful we all have to work together as a unit.”
Florida was not to go down lightly because after Alabama scored to increase their lead to 11, the Gators came roaring back with a drive that lasted only one and a half minutes and concluded with a Tim Tebow 23-yard touchdown pass to David Nelson to cut the Crimson Tide lead to two.
But Ingram showed what he was made of as he caught a 69-yard screen pass from McElroy and led to an Ingram 3-yard touchdown run to increased the lead to nine.
“That big screen pass was a huge momentum shift,” said Florida head coach Urban Meyer who’s team suffered its first loss of the year. “If we would have got something going right away in the third quarter, and we obviously didn’t, so that was a huge momentum shift, especially after the touchdown to David Nelson to get it to 12-10.”
Florida was able to kick a late field goal in the second quarter, and that would be the last points they would score in the game.
The third quarter was the defining quarter for the game for Alabama because the defense was able to stall two Florida drives. They scored on their opening series of the half with a McElroy 17-yard touchdown pass to Colin Peek and their second drive of the quarter took nearly nine minutes off the clock. That drive carried on to the fourth quarter and ended with a Ingram 1-yard touchdown run to put Alabama up 32-13.
“This is a great victory for the state of Alabama,” Saban said. “I’d like to thank everyone in our organization who worked so hard to make our program one of the best programs in the country, whether it’s personal development, academics, player development, or helping these players launch their career when they leave our program.”
Alabama gets an automatic BCS bid and they will more than like play against Texas in the BCS Championship on January 7. Florida will play in the Sugar Bowl where they will face an at-large team on New Year’s Day.
Jones can be reached at bjones@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
