TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Since Urban Meyer arrived at Florida in 2005 and rebuilt the football program into one of the nation's elite, he hasn't had many nights like Saturday here at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In fact, you can count on one hand the number of lopsided defeats the Gators have suffered under Meyer: three.
The third came to an Alabama team ranked No. 1 in the country and one that looked every bit worthy of that ranking, knocking off the Gators 31-6 in a much-anticipated rematch of the past two SEC Championship Games.
“We got beat by a good team, and we didn't play very well,'' Meyer said shortly after his second-worst defeat at UF. “We're anxious to get back to work.''
As the Gators rushed to get out of Dixie and catch their flight back to Gainesville, they took a deep look in the mirror before getting dressed. It was Meyer's worst loss since his first season, a 31-3 defeat at Alabama almost five years ago to the day.
“We have to get back to the drawing board and do what we do,'' senior linebacker Brandon Hicks said. “We see it as a stepping stone. No team is perfect. This is our grow-up time.''
The Gators, coming off their most complete game of the season in a 34-point win over Kentucky, had looked forward to their rematch with the Crimson Tide since losing the 2009 SEC title game to Alabama. The Crimson Tide went on to win the national title the same way the Gators did in 2008 after knocking off Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
While a possible rematch in Atlanta still looms if the Gators can finish the SEC portion of their schedule strong, they weren't ready to look that far ahead after seeing their 24-game regular-season win streak snapped in front of an electric crowd of more than 101,000 Saturday night.
“We are going to go out and have one of our best weeks of practice,'' senior center Mike Pouncey said. “We moved the ball up and down the field. We just didn't make the plays at the times we were supposed to.
“When you go out there and beat yourself, you understand what it takes to go out there and win these kinds of games. They were the more prepared team. All the credit goes to them, because they played great today and we didn't.''
The game's turning point seemed to come on Florida's first drive of the game. Alabama took a 3-0 lead on the game's opening drive thanks to Jeremy Shelley's 28-yard field goal. But the Gators quickly answered by driving from their 24 to Alabama's 2.
However, on fourth-and-goal, freshman quarterback Trey Burton's jump pass for Jordan Reed was intercepted by Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson. Instead of taking the lead or perhaps tying the game on a field goal, the Gators came up empty.
“It was an aggressive call, something that we would probably do again,'' Meyer said. “As a matter of fact, I know we would do it again. Sometimes you kick yourself right in the rear end when you do that, but that is kind of the way we play. We're aggressive. You go on the road and get a chance to take the lead on a team. We're going to try to go do that.''
Instead of taking a lead, the Gators continued to fall behind, trailing 24-3 at halftime and never recovering.
Florida committed four turnovers – besides Burton's interception, starter John Brantley tossed two interceptions and the Gators lost a fumble inside the red zone when Emmanuel Moody dropped the exchange from Brantley on a handoff – while forcing none.
That was the biggest difference in the game.
“We turned it over, which you can't do,'' offensive coordinator Steve Addazio said. “Those are things that didn't go so well.''
Alabama's dynamic backfield of Mark Ingram (12 carries, 47 yards) and Trent Richardson (10 carries, 63 yards) was effective but not as overpowering as when the teams met last December in Atlanta, but by the time Florida's defense started making stops in the second half, the game was out of hand.
Alabama also used some trickery when receiver Marquis Maze lined up at quarterback and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Michael Williams late in the second quarter that put Alabama up 24-0.
“There's not much you can say about it,'' Gators linebacker Jelani Jenkins said. “We kind of got away from our game plan and made a few mental errors that kind of messed us up. They are a great football team. They were good last year and they are good this year.''
The final dagger came when Alabama freshman C.J. Mosley intercepted Brantley and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Brantley finished 16 of 31 for 202 yards to help the Gators finish with more total yards (281 to 273), but the final stats were of little consolation to the Gators, who failed to score a touchdown for the first time since last visiting Tuscaloosa five years ago.
“A lot of things didn't go right for us,'' Florida safety Ahmad Black said. “We've got to get better as a team: offense, defense and special teams.''
That process starts Sunday when the Gators return to practice, intent on moving past the nightmare of Saturday night.
They can't think of a rematch until they correct some of the problems that cost them dearly against the Crimson Tide.
“It was awful,'' Meyer said. “Turnovers and red zone inefficiency, that wasn't good. We have some things to work on.''
