Championship Saturday: SEC title game has #1 Alabama taking on #7 Florida tonight at 8

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE NOTES

Alabama and Florida will meet for the 10th time in the SEC Championship Game and the 42nd time overall when the two teams square off on Saturday. The Crimson Tide holds a 27-14 (26-14 NCAA) advantage in the series, including a 5-4 mark in the SEC title game. UA is currently riding a six-game winning streak overall with three straight victories over the Gators in the SEC Championship. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 8-4 in his career against UF, including a 6-1 record at UA and a 3-1 mark in Atlanta. Florida head coach Dan Mullen is 0-9 against UA with all nine losses coming during his time at Mississippi State.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Overall: 42nd Meeting (Alabama leads, 27-14 (26-14 NCAA))
In Atlanta: Alabama leads, 5-4
Current Streak: Alabama, Won 6
Last Meeting: Dec. 3, 2016 – SEC Championship Game (W, 54-16)
Series Notes: Alabama and Florida will meet for the 10th time in the SEC Championship
Game and the 42nd time overall when the two teams square off on Saturday. The Crimson
Tide holds a 27-14 (26-14 NCAA) advantage in the series, including a 5-4 mark in the SEC title
game. UA is currently riding a six-game winning streak overall with three straight victories
over the Gators in the SEC Championship. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 8-4 in his career
against UF, including a 6-1 record at UA and a 3-1 mark in Atlanta. Florida head coach Dan
Mullen is 0-9 against UA with all nine losses coming during his time at Mississippi State.

SEC RECORD: Alabama extended its record for most consecutive 10-win seasons in SEC history to 13 when it
defeated Arkansas on Dec. 12 in Fayetteville. The Crimson Tide finished the 2020 regular season at a perfect
10-0 mark against an all-SEC schedule, making Alabama the only team in league history to win 10 conference
games in a season. It also marked the Crimson Tide’s fifth undefeated regular season (excluding conference
championship games) under head coach Nick Saban, joining 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2018. In the Tide’s previous
10-plus win seasons, UA finished with a 12-2 record in 2008 and 2014; 14-0 in 2009; 10-3 in 2010; 12-1 in 2011;
13-1 in 2012 and 2017; 11-2 in 2013 and 2019; and 14-1 in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

SEC WESTERN DIVISION TITLE: Alabama’s 55-17 win at LSU on Dec. 5 clinched the program’s 15th SEC
Western Division title (13th outright). The Crimson Tide will represent the Western Division against SEC Eastern
Division champion Florida in the SEC Championship Game to be played on Dec. 19, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
in Atlanta, Ga. Alabama will be making its 13th appearance in the SEC Championship with the Crimson Tide
holding a record of 8-4 in 12 previous trips.

EASTERN STREAK: Alabama’s 63-3 win over Kentucky on Nov. 21 was the Crimson Tide’s 30th consecutive
victory over an SEC Eastern Division opponent, dating back to a 35-21 loss at then-No. 19 South Carolina on Oct.
9, 2010. The 30 wins include a 5-0 record in SEC Championship Games. During the current run, the Tide is 11-0
vs. Tennessee; , 5-0 vs. Georgia (2-0 in SEC CG, 1-0 in CFP NCG); 4-0 vs. Florida (2-0 in SEC CG) and Missouri
(1-0 in SEC CG); 3-0 vs. Kentucky; 2-0 vs. Vanderbilt; and 1-0 vs. South Carolina. Overall, under Nick Saban the
Crimson Tide is 40-3 (.930) against the SEC East, including a 7-1 (.875) record in the SEC Championship Game.

DOME SWEET DOME: The Crimson Tide is 29-7-1 (.797) all-time in domed stadiums, including a 20-2 (.909)
mark since 2009, and is 21-4 (.840) during Nick Saban’s tenure. Alabama last played inside a dome for the
2020 season opener against Duke, a dominant 42-3 win over the Blue Devils inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in
Atlanta, Ga. The Tide is 4-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened in 2017.
ALABAMA IN THE ATL: Alabama boasts a 14-1 record in games played in Atlanta since head coach Nick
Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, including 13 straight wins. The Crimson Tide is 6-0 in Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games,
6-1 in SEC Championship Games, 1-0 in the Peach Bowl and 1-0 in the College Football Playoff National
Championship Game.

FLORIDA GATORS GAME NOTES

THE STORYLINE

• Florida is making its 13th SEC Championship Game appearance (tied with Alabama for the most in league history).
• UF’s SEC Championship Game appearance next Saturday will be its first since consecutive trips in 2015 and 2016.
• Florida is 4-3 against AP top-10 teams under Dan Mullen. From 2010-17, Florida went 5-11 against top-10 opponents.
• Florida is tied for fifth nationally and ranks second in the SEC with 7.44 yards per play — on pace for a school record.
The only teams in school history to average greater than 7.15 yards were the 1995 Gators (7.40) and 2001 Gators (7.36).

KYLES HEADLINE GATORS’ HISTORIC PASSING OFFENSE

• Florida’s 386.4 passing yards per game lead the FBS and put the Gators on pace for a historic passing season. The
only team in UF history to throw for more than 368 yards per game was the 2001 Gators (405.2), who were also the
only team in school history to lead the nation in passing offense. UF’s average currently ranks fourth in SEC history.
• Florida has five games of 400-plus passing yards this season, marking the first time since 2001 and the third time in
program history it has five such outings in a season. Previously: 2001 (seven times, including bowl), 1998 (five).
• Florida ranks fifth nationally with a 185.4 passer rating and is on pace to shatter the school record of 171.8 set in 1995.
• Kyle Trask’s 40 touchdown passes lead the nation by 10 and mark the fifth-highest total through 10 games in FBS
history. Only Houston’s David Klingler (47 in 1990), Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons (44 in 2003), Hawaii’s Colt Brennan (43 in
2006), and Houston’s Andre Ware (41 in 1989) also reached 40 touchdown passes through 10 games.
» Of the five players in FBS history to throw 40 touchdown passes in the first 10 games of a season, the
only ones to average fewer than 52 attempts per game were: Trask (36.9) and Brennan (38.0).
• Trask ranks second nationally in passing yards per game (371.7), putting him on pace for the third-highest season
average in SEC history behind only Kentucky’s Tim Couch (388.6 in 1998) and LSU’s Joe Burrow (378.1 in 2019).
• Trask also ranks sixth nationally in passer rating (187.87), but he is on pace for the third-highest single-season rating
in FBS history among passers who averaged at least 30 attempts per game.
• Junior tight end Kyle Pitts returned from a two-game hiatus with 12 receptions for 227 yards and three touchdowns
(all against Kentucky) in Florida’s wins over Kentucky and Tennessee; he missed last week’s game against LSU.
• Pitts’ 11 touchdown receptions rank fourth among FBS players, and the only three with more than him have all played
at least nine games compared to Pitts’ seven.
• Pitts‘ 11 touchdown receptions combined with senior all-purpose athlete Kadarius Toney‘s nine make them the fifth
duo in Gators history (and first since 2001) with at least nine touchdown catches apiece.
• Pitts and Trask were both named Maxwell Award semifinalists, Florida’s first since Mike Gillislee in 2012.

COURTESY ALABAMA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

COURTESY FLORIDA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS