SEC championship game was an instant classic

Years from now, when somebody looks down the list of scores of the Southeastern Conference championship game, 31-20 might not suggest Saturday night’s contest between Florida and Alabama was the best one of its kind ever played. But make no mistake. It was.

With a potential national championship hanging in the balance, the Gators and Tide waged war on the floor of the Georgia Dome like no two ballcubs to ever advance to this game. For years, I’ve maintained expanding the conference was a bad idea, and that this league title game would rob a team of the chance to play for all the marbles, just as has happened in the Big 12 on several occasions. Technically, it happened to Alabama Saturday night, for if the Tide hadn’t have had to face the Gators, they’d be waiting for Oklahoma in Miami at this very moment.

But the real theft would have been at the expense of all us who love college football. We would have missed one of the finest shootouts in recent times. The game was played at an extremely high level — no turnovers by either team until the last-gasp interception thrown by Alabama’s John Parker Wilson — and the coaching prowess of Alabama’s Nick Saban and Florida’s Urban Meyer has never been on display any better.

I thought the best player on the field won the game for his team. I’m talking Tim Tebow, of course, a special specimen if ever there was one. When you look at the overall package — his arm, his legs, his head, his heart, his competitive nature — you could make a strong case he’s the best signal-caller in SEC history. There is little doubt he deserves consideration for the Heisman Trophy yet again. I don’t think any of the other candidates could have beaten Alabama in Atlanta.

To be frank, however, the Tide did make a couple of subtle errors that contributed to the heart-breaking loss. The two mistakes in the kicking game — the fake field goal and Javier Arenas stepping out on his own 4 with a kickoff that was heading out of bounds — hurt tremendously. And then in the fourth quarter trailing just 24-20, Arenas set his team up near midfield with a long return only to see offensive coordinator Jim McElwain call for an ill-advised long ball to Julio Jones, who had two Gators hanging all over him and it put the Tide in second and third-and-long situations they couldn’t convert. Florida then drove down for the clinching score.

All three miscues were pointed out by Saban after the game, when he refreshingly took the blame for each. He will still get my vote for Coach of the Year, as he should many others.

But let’s not kid ourselves about this season. Yes, Alabama far exceeded expectations and helped accelerate the return of the program to consistent national prominence. Recruiting should yield a bumper crop of incoming talent. However, it should never be forgotten how things fell so wonderfully in place for this squad. It had one of only three experienced quarterbacks in the SEC. It escaped virtually unscathed injury-wise week after week. The foes that were supposed to be good woefully underachieved. The other contenders lost, giving the Tide control of its own destiny.

When will all of the above form the perfect storm again?

The future will reveal the answer to that question, but history should dictate that an asterisk be placed beside the final score of Alabama-Florida in 2008. It was a classic, one for the ages. How bad history stings won’t fully be determined until Jan. 8, when Florida, not Alabama, plays for the national championship.