<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;ATLANTA \u2014 Everything went as expected in the Georgia Dome on Saturday. Here are three thoughts from Alabama\u2019s 29-15 win over Florida in the SEC Championship.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Florida\u2019s offense really struggled against Alabama\u2019s defense&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alabama rolled on toward the College Football Playoff thanks to an excellent defense and a mostly competent offense. As expected, the Crimson Tide struggled early with Florida\u2019s defense. Alabama coach Nick Saban said the Gators would have the best defense his team faced all year, and he wasn\u2019t wrong. Florida held Alabama to 38 yards in the first quarter.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What Saban didn\u2019t say during the week\u2014but anyone who watched college football in November could see\u2014was that Florida\u2019s horrible offense would not be able to move the ball on the Crimson Tide, giving Alabama\u2019s offense plenty of chances to wear down the Gators\u2019 defense.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Florida\u2019s 7-2 lead\u2014courtesy of an 85-yard Antonio Callaway punt return in the second quarter\u2014turned into a 22-7 deficit in the third quarter as Alabama hogged the ball and Florida melted down during its rare chances to touch the ball. Alabama tailback Derrick Henry (44 carries, 189 yards 1 TD) and quarterback Jake Coker (18 of 26, 204 passing yards, 2 TDs) guided Alabama down the field at a clock-milkingly-deliberate pace.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Florida just couldn\u2019t keep the ball for long. Gators quarterback Treon Harris completed 9 of 24 passes for 165 yards\u2014and 68 of those came in the first quarter. The Gators seemed to have some semblance of a chance offensively for the first 15 minutes but fell apart in the second quarter. When Florida punted midway through the fourth quarter, the Gators had recorded minus-three yards since the end of the first.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alabama is the first repeat SEC champion since Tennessee in 1997 and 1998. The Tide now will wait for the playoff selection committee to determine their opponent and destination for the semifinals on Dec. 31. Alabama entered Saturday ranked No. 2 in the committee\u2019s rankings.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;The Florida offense, encapsulated in one glorious second-quarter play&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the record, the rules forbade two forward passes on the same play. A flag was thrown.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Gators, who worked a bit of a miracle to even make it to Atlanta in coach Jim McElwain\u2019s first year, likely will get better on offense next year. But they\u2019re stuck with this one for one more game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Derrick Henry may have bolstered his Heisman candidacy&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alabama tailback Derrick Henry carried 44 times for 189 yards (4.3 YPC). In the process, he broke Herschel Walker\u2019s SEC single-season rushing yardage record*. He also became the first player to break 100 yards in two different SEC title games.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Henry entered Saturday as a slight favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. His passing of Walker\u2014whose 1981 record of 1,891 yards was set in 11 games\u2014could help his case. Fellow contenders Deshaun Watson of Clemson and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford had yet to play Saturday. Heisman votes are due on Monday.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;*Walker registered 1,891 yards on 385 carries over 11 games in 1981. Henry has recorded 1,986 yards on 339 carries over 13 games this season.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/12/05/alabama-florida-sec-title-playoff-crimson-tide>