SEC Championship, Alabama vs Florida: Score, highlights and recap

The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide destroyed the No. 15 Florida Gators in the 2016 SEC Championship, 54-16. Here are all the highlights, a game recap, and the final score.

The Alabama Crimson Tide did it. They eviscerated the Florida Gators, 54-16 in the 2016 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. Alabama improves to 13-0 on the year and will be the No. 1 seed in the 2017 College Football Playoff. Florida falls to 8-4 on the season. Maybe the Gators have a shot at getting to the Sugar Bowl?

The first half of the 2016 SEC Championship was tremendously high scoring. Alabama would score more points in the first half than any team in SEC Championship game history. The Crimson Tide would take a 33-16 lead into halftime.

This game’s big story in the first half was a ton of great plays from the Alabama defense and special teams. Alabama would pick off Florida quarterback Austin Appleby three times, including a pick-six by defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick.

The Crimson Tide would also have a special teams touchdown on a blocked Johnny Townsend punt by Derrick Gore and returned by Joshua Jacobs. On the next play from scrimmage, Florida’s David Reese would block Alabama kicker Adam Griffith’s PAT for two points.

Both teams would have a pair of offensive touchdowns to boot. Alabama would have a passing touchdown from quarterback Jalen Hurts to wide receiver Gehrig Dieter. Jacobs would also find pay dirt on the ground in the first half. Appleby would have two first-half touchdown passes of his own, one early to Antonio Callaway and another late to DeAndre Goolsby.

Like clockwork, Alabama would eventually unleash its weekly boa constrictor game plan in the middle of the third quarter to squeeze the life out of the Gators. It would be a close game until Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough would break a 22-yard run and then punch it in on the next play late in the third quarter.

Alabama would stay in control and win the game comfortably in blow out fashion. The Crimson Tide will presumably enter the 2017 College Football Playoff as the No. 1 national seed. They will choose to play in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve against whomever gets in as the No. 4 seed. As expected, the Crimson Tide rolled all over a bewildered Gators offense.

Three Stars

1. Bo Scarbrough: Scarbrough had his best game of the season versus Florida. He had 11 carries for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
2. Joshua Jacobs: Jacobs had a huge day for the Crimson Tide. He had a 27-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown. Jacobs would have six carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. He would have a catch for six yards as well.
3. Derrick Gore: Despite being the fifth-string running back for Alabama, Gore would have his best day in Crimson Tide uniform. He would be the guy that blocked Townsend’s punt that Jacobs returned for six. Gore would also have four carries for 21 yards and a touchdown.

Highlights

Next Game

Alabama projects as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 College Football. Should Alabama get the No. 1 national seed, the Crimson Tide would presumably play the No. 4 seed at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Kickoff would be at either 3:00 p.m. ET or 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 31.

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Florida’s next game isn’t as certain as Alabama’s. The Gators would be one a handful of teams in the SEC with four losses on the year. Since Alabama will make the College Football Playoff, perhaps Florida gets to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Monday, Jan. 2 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans?