Missed chances in third quarter doom Tide

ATLANTA — For 15 wonderful minutes, Alabama had it rolling.

The smashmouth running game.

The bootleg pass to the tight end.

The get-off-the-field defense.

Alabama owned the third quarter, but netted 10 points, turning a 17-10 halftime deficit into a 20-17 advantage going into the final 15 minutes.

But even Leigh Tiffin’s 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in the quarter was almost a signal that momentum was shifting.

Alabama players were angry at coming away with three points instead of seven.

“Most definitely,” Glen Coffee said. “We tried to break their back. We were wearing them down. Not to come out with seven, that was giving up more than we want to.”

Quarterback John Parker Wilson said that was a frustrating way to end a long drive, especially against a Florida offense that wasn’t on the field much in the third quarter.

“We knew they were going to score a bunch of points,” Wilson said. “You can’t put three on the board when you’re down in the red zone. It’ll kill you, and it did tonight.”

When Florida turned the game in the final 15 minutes, the Gators got touchdowns. They controlled the ball all but 3:05 in the fourth quarter.

For the Crimson Tide, which put so much emphasis on finishing this season, it was painful to watch.

“When the score is 20-17, we didn’t finish like we needed to and they did,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “That’s the difference in the game.”

“The fourth quarter definitely was a frustrating period for us,” Coffee said. “We have to finish out in the fourth.”

Coffee said it wasn’t a matter of what Alabama didn’t do, it was what Florida did.

“They were a physical group of guys,” he said. “Everybody talks about their speed but they were physical also.”

Senior center Antoine Caldwell also felt the Crimson Tide missed a golden opportunity in the third.

“I think it felt great. We felt good,” he said. “It was one of those things we kind of let slip. ... We didn’t capitalize like we should have. It gave them a little momentum. In that case, we should have punched it in, but we didn’t.”

Caldwell said Florida didn’t bring anything Alabama didn’t expect.

“They were what we thought they were. They were fast. They played good defense together,” he said.

Caldwell, like other Tide players, couldn’t pinpoint the turnaround between the third and fourth quarters.

“I don’t know. I think we started playing behind the chains a little bit,” he said. “It’s hard to run downhill when it’s second-and-10, third-and-11, third-and-9.”

In fact, as the deficit grew from 24-20 to 31-20, Wilson could feel the intensity grow from Florida’s pass rush.

“They knew we had to throw the ball,” Wilson said. “They were just bringing a bunch of guys.”

But even before that, Wilson noted Alabama faced long drives throughout the game.

“We were backed up all night,” he said of the field position. “We were able to do a pretty good job in the third quarter. But the second quarter, we started from inside the 10 a couple times. It’s tough to drive the ball that far all game long.”