Alabama Football: Tide’s report card in SEC Championship Game

Alabama football’s report card in SEC Championship

Cornerbacks: C-

Kyle Pitts was a focal point for the Florida offense, and we wondered how Alabama would defend him. While he had a strong start, Kadarius Toney beat Malachi Moore for Florida’s first score of this game. Toney’s speed was going to be a problem, and Malachi Moore simply got beat.

Josh Jobe also got beat on a deep pass, but Kyle Trask thankfully overthrew the target. If he had an accurate pass, it would have been a quick touchdown for the Gators. However, his worst mistake was an offsides penalty at the goal line. It was purely a mental error, and it took a fumble off of the board. The Gators scored on the next possession.

Patrick Surtain had busted coverage on a touchdown pass as well. Every member of the starting unit had issues, and they will have to fix them in the future.

Safeties: C

For the first few drives, none of the safeties did anything of note. The first thing that jumped off of the page was a missed tackle by Jordan Battle. He could have gotten Florida for a third and long, but he instead gave up a first down.

Alabama has youth at safety, and it showed against the Florida Gators. Brian Branch had plenty of mistakes, and Jordan Battle did as well. While the corners were worse, the safeties didn’t do much better.

By the end of this game, our defense was exhausted. They had too many penalties and couldn’t keep up with the speed on offense. If they want to beat Clemson, they will have to improve.