TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Third down and 23 yards to go. Three and out.
Years from now, when they talk about No. 3 Alabama's 42-21 victory over Florida on Saturday afternoon in front of 101,821 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, that's the Alabama play and subsequent Gators offensive sequence that will be among the most remembered.
Tied at 21, an Alabama offensive pass interference call negated a 17-yard touchdown.
Twenty-three yards stood between the Gators and a chance to keep Saturday afternoon's game a legitimate contest.
But the moment Alabama running back Derrick Henry rushed 29 yards on third down to set up his 3-yard touchdown run that gave Alabama a 28-21 lead with 5:27 remaining in the third quarter, Florida went from a potential upset bid to once again searching for answers to an anemic offense and a defense that is stretched thin by its own deficiencies in the secondary and worn out because it can't stay off the field for any sustained period of time.
"They had two big plays, and then as the game wore on, when you can't get off the field — the screen pass (Henry's run) — we had two guys in the back," Florida coach Will Muschamp said. ''That's a lack of execution, and that comes back on me.
"We've got to do a better job of playing better in those situations."
Alabama had 645 yards of offense — the most ever given up by a Florida team, surpassing the 629 yards Nebraska gained in the 1995 national championship game.
One of Alabama's touchdowns came on an 87-yard pass from Blake Sims to Kenyan Drake, another on a 79-yard pass from Sims to Amari Cooper — who had 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
"First of all, this was a great win for our team," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "We were able to gain control of the line of scrimmage and were able to run the ball effectively.
"We eventually got control of the game, which speaks a lot about the competitive nature that the players have. They just kept hanging in there."
On paper, Henry's run was just one touchdown. In reality, it was a crushing blow.
"That's when they took off and, I think, some people started feeling sorry for themselves," Gators defensive lineman Jon Bullard said. "But when we're on the field, we've just got to get off the field. And that's our job to do no matter if we're on the field double the amount of the offense or whatever."
The Gators responded to Henry's run — part of a 16-play drive — with a three-and-out offensive series and never scored again. Florida was outscored 21-7 in the second half, and the Tide had the ball for 22:16 to Florida's 7:44.
"We knew we were going to be in it, and it didn't work out for us," said Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel, who was 9-for-28 for 93 yards and two interceptions. "We didn't take advantage of our opportunities is what it comes down to. We didn't stay on the field enough as an offense. We left our defense out there a lot. And it's tough to stop a team like that with the players that they have."
Florida scored all three of its touchdowns off turnovers but was unable to get its offense in synch. It had just 200 yards of offense and was 2-for-13 on third-down conversions, gaining just 11 first downs.
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Explore all your optionsThe Gators had hoped Saturday would be a "statement game;" that their turnaround from a 4-8 season was well on its way.
Instead, the questions continued to grow. Muschamp said the Gators will be fine.
"In my opinion, we had opportunities through the game," he said.
"We need to stay the course with the idea that right now that's a good football team, too, with everything still sitting out in front of us. We did not have the execution we needed offensively, and two big plays in the first half defense were killer. Those are things we have to go back and fix."
Contact Antonya English at aenglish@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Gators.