Clint Lamb
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The debate surrounding the Heisman Trophy has been interesting. There are multiple players still involved in the conversation, but the assumed front-runners have been Mac Jones, Kyle Trask and DeVonta Smith.
After totaling 408 yards and three passing touchdowns on Saturday night, Trask should still be in the running. It’s hard not to respect the bounce back performance, too. He had great command of the Florida offense.
The trio from Tuscaloosa, however, looked even more unstoppable.
You might have noticed that I said trio. That’s because senior running back Najee Harris has forced his way into the conversation. Will he win it? No, but he’s earned being mentioned.
Harris had 245 total yards (178 rushing, 67 receiving) and five total touchdowns. That brings his season numbers to …
- 1,262 yards rushing
- 24 rushing touchdowns
- 316 yards receiving
- 3 receiving touchdowns
That’s only in 11 games, too. Whether it’s hurdling defenders, spinning out of tackles or going through guys, he creates — after contact, after the catch … doesn’t matter. As impressive as he’s been this season, he’s been overshadowed by Jones and Smith.
Jones threw for another 418 yards and five scores while also turning the ball over once. He wasn’t as sharp as he’s been in other games, but it’s hard to argue the numbers. His season totals:
- 3,739 passing yards
- 32 touchdowns / 4 interceptions
- 11.4 yards per attempt
- 1 rushing touchdown
Smith, on the other hand, continued to make a major impact. Racking up 184 yards and two touchdowns on a whopping 15 catches on Saturday night. So, we’ve already looked at the rushing numbers from Harris and passing numbers for Jones.
What do the receiving numbers look like for Smith?
- 98 receptions
- 1,511 receiving yards
- 17 touchdowns
- 15.4 yards per catch
Once again, that’s in 11 games. It’s entirely possible that Smith could’ve been a 2,000-yard receiver in a normal season with 15 games. He also has the punt return for a touchdown as well.
Guys, he’s the best player in the country.
That doesn’t mean he’ll win the award, but he should. Defenses have tried to stop him, but have been unable to — at least for the most part. Sure, more opportunities have been there with the injury to fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle. But Smith has looked like a guy playing on another level.
Really, the entire trio has to some degree, and that’s why no one has been able to slow down the Crimson Tide.
The Alabama offense put up 52 points and 605 total yards of offense in the SEC championship. They were 9-of-15 (60 percent) on third downs, controlled the ball for 34 minutes and 21 seconds and scored touchdowns on seven of 12 drives.
The defensive side of the football struggled, but that was expected against a really good Florida offense. The Gators didn’t prove they were a Playoff caliber team, but they did prove that they’re one of the best 10 teams in the country.
After winning the game 52-46, Alabama moves to 11-0 this season while Florida falls to 8-3. It was a fun SEC championship, and it will be even more fun to see where things fall with the awards and Florida’s ranking in the coming days.
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
Done defending Grantham. To be sure, I blame Mullen just as much for not burning clock at the end of the first half and he gave a complete bullshit excuse at the halftime interview. And they DID force a turnover, only for Dean to completely get blindsided by the trailing WR he had no idea was there and give the ball back to bama. But beyond that, Florida couldn’t even manage one more stop. Best offense in the country? Sure. But it’s the same story against A&M and LSU this year, two teams which are inferior to Florida despite the final scores. [that said, still prefer A&M over OSU in the playoff!] It’s clearly not working out. It’s not as if there’s no talent on defense, and we did lead the SEC in sacks, but this team couldn’t force turnovers all year, couldn’t tackle all year and couldn’t get aligned presnap all year. And that yeeted cleat against LSU? That was a defender…
Cut the cord. Grantham has failed.
I did notice the Gator d line is loaded with talent. They’re just young. They’ve got a couple first founders on that line who can really get after the QB. Pretty much no one in the SEC can play defense now. They’ve all sold out to the spread offense and defenses haven’t adjusted. Bama’s d got exposed last night too.
All I could help thinking while watching Bama score 52 while not playing their best football was
1)They still can’t play a lick of D when it matters. What happened to the old Bama defense? It’s what may keep them from a title.
2)They torch teams up and down the field like this WITHOUT Waddle. What would this offense be with him out there? Yikes.