Enjoyed reading Matt Zemek's comparison's between 1999 and 2009 SECCG:
"1. Ten years ago, red-shirted (designated home team) Alabama drilled white-shirted (designated visiting team) Florida in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Shaun Alexander ran wild in the second half against an impotent Gator defense. A lauded Florida coach presided over a train wreck in which his team was poorly prepared, thoroughly outhit and grossly outplayed in all aspects of competition. The Crimson Tide made the extra effort needed to win the vast majority of snaps, and generally revealed a level of hunger far deeper than anything Florida could muster in that 1999 title tilt.
Shaun Alexander, meet Mark Ingram. Steve Spurrier, meet Urban Meyer. Mike DuBose, meet Nick Saban. Lane Kiffin might be a brat with no sense of decorum, but he had this game pegged: Coaching and discipline stood out in this game — like all the missed Florida tackles and all the brilliant plays turned in by Greg McElroy, who was clearly the better quarterback on the field.
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An interesting trend remained intact with this result: Whereas the two Florida-Bama SEC title games in Birmingham (1992 and '93) were both won by the designated road team, the five Gator-Tide tussles staged in Atlanta (1994, '96, '99, 2008, 2009) have all been won by the designated home team. Because Bama made the most of this "home" game, the Tide — the last SEC team to play in Pasadena, Calif., in early January (in the 1946 Rose Bowl against USC) — will make the long trek to the Arroyo Seco once again, 64 years later.
2. When ranking the best coaches of the soon-to-end decade, it would be hard to deny Pete Carroll the top spot, while Bob Stoops — based on six Big 12 championships at Oklahoma, a remarkable feat — would probably be second. However, after this resounding win against a 12-0 defending national champion from Florida, Nick Saban — even with his Miami Dolphin years, and despite his frequently off-putting behavior — might be in position to take third place.
Saban won his third SEC title of the decade on this satisfying Saturday, and he can now say he's won an SEC crown at two different schools. If he wins the BCS National Championship Game, Saban will have two national titles in the first decade of the 21st century. He was the coach of the year for the first 12 games of 2009, and he thoroughly undressed Urban Meyer in this titanic Tidal takedown. Decade-long examinations aside, Mr. Saban is the best and most prepared sideline sultan in the sport at this particular moment."
— Matt Zemek
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"Saban won his third SEC title of the decade on this satisfying Saturday, and he can now say he's won an SEC crown at two different schools."
For those of you who may have missed this graphic at the end of yesterday's game--there's another SEC coach who has accomplished this feat and his name can be found on a stadium and museum in Tuscaloosa.
* * * * *
Here are a couple other perspectives on yesterday's game from the same column "Alabama outplayed an unprepared Florida Team":
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/10481846/Alabama-outplayed-an-unprepared-Florida-team
"1. Ten years ago, red-shirted (designated home team) Alabama drilled white-shirted (designated visiting team) Florida in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Shaun Alexander ran wild in the second half against an impotent Gator defense. A lauded Florida coach presided over a train wreck in which his team was poorly prepared, thoroughly outhit and grossly outplayed in all aspects of competition. The Crimson Tide made the extra effort needed to win the vast majority of snaps, and generally revealed a level of hunger far deeper than anything Florida could muster in that 1999 title tilt.
Shaun Alexander, meet Mark Ingram. Steve Spurrier, meet Urban Meyer. Mike DuBose, meet Nick Saban. Lane Kiffin might be a brat with no sense of decorum, but he had this game pegged: Coaching and discipline stood out in this game — like all the missed Florida tackles and all the brilliant plays turned in by Greg McElroy, who was clearly the better quarterback on the field.
<table><tbody><tr><td>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
An interesting trend remained intact with this result: Whereas the two Florida-Bama SEC title games in Birmingham (1992 and '93) were both won by the designated road team, the five Gator-Tide tussles staged in Atlanta (1994, '96, '99, 2008, 2009) have all been won by the designated home team. Because Bama made the most of this "home" game, the Tide — the last SEC team to play in Pasadena, Calif., in early January (in the 1946 Rose Bowl against USC) — will make the long trek to the Arroyo Seco once again, 64 years later.
2. When ranking the best coaches of the soon-to-end decade, it would be hard to deny Pete Carroll the top spot, while Bob Stoops — based on six Big 12 championships at Oklahoma, a remarkable feat — would probably be second. However, after this resounding win against a 12-0 defending national champion from Florida, Nick Saban — even with his Miami Dolphin years, and despite his frequently off-putting behavior — might be in position to take third place.
Saban won his third SEC title of the decade on this satisfying Saturday, and he can now say he's won an SEC crown at two different schools. If he wins the BCS National Championship Game, Saban will have two national titles in the first decade of the 21st century. He was the coach of the year for the first 12 games of 2009, and he thoroughly undressed Urban Meyer in this titanic Tidal takedown. Decade-long examinations aside, Mr. Saban is the best and most prepared sideline sultan in the sport at this particular moment."
— Matt Zemek
* * * * *
"Saban won his third SEC title of the decade on this satisfying Saturday, and he can now say he's won an SEC crown at two different schools."
For those of you who may have missed this graphic at the end of yesterday's game--there's another SEC coach who has accomplished this feat and his name can be found on a stadium and museum in Tuscaloosa.
* * * * *
Here are a couple other perspectives on yesterday's game from the same column "Alabama outplayed an unprepared Florida Team":
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/10481846/Alabama-outplayed-an-unprepared-Florida-team
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