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Tale as old at time. Song as old as rhyme. Offense puts up points but needs a perfect game to overcome a problematic defense. And the Gators fall just short. To say it wasn’t a disappointment to lose would be a lie. However, I think the Fighting Dan Mullens put up a much better fight than anyone anticipated.

Offense: A-

Look 46 points is 46 points. You’re doing something right on offense when you post that on a scoreboard. Florida only punted twice against the Number 1 team in the country and gained 462 yards of total offense on 66 plays. Those point and yardage totals are second to Ole Miss for the most against the Crimson Tide this season. Kyle Trask showed out again with a 65 percent completion rate, 408 yards through the air and four total touchdowns (3 pass, 1 rush). How much more can we say about Kadarius Toney and Kyle Pitts? Toney led all receivers with eight catches, 153 yards and a touchdown. And Pitts put on a spectacular going away performance with 129 yards and a score on seven catches. Something you could knock the Gators for is fumbling four times on offense (only losing one of them but inside their own 20) along with a stalled drive after the defense got them the ball on a fourth down stop on Bama’s first drive of the second half. But, no matter how many times the Gators were punched in the gut by Alabama, this offense barely flinched and kept them toe-to-toe with the big bad Tide.

Defense: D

I know it’s weird to give the Gators credit on offense for succeeding against Alabama while criticizing the defense for getting torched. But just bear with me. No matter how you slice it, 52 points and 605 yards allowed is embarrassing for a defense. Florida seemingly had no answer for Najee Harris (in their defense nobody did all year). But the most painful part was, for a majority of the game, the defense did the right things to get off the field and things happened to nullify it. Trey Dean made a great effort play to pick off Mac Jones then got leveled by John Metchie III and fumbled the ball to give the Tide possession. You can hardly blame Dean there. He made a great play and Metchie just made a better one. It’s more the offsides penalty on 3rd and 10 to give Bama 3rd and 5 on it’s first drive, allowing DeVonta Smith to pick up the first on a drag route. Or hands to the face to extend a drive after a third down incompletion on 3rd and 3 and a substitution penalty on a different third down incompletion to give the Tide another chance at a first down. Also, when the Gators got within one score with 6:30 left in the fourth, they gave up a touchdown to help Bama keep Florida at arms length.

However, the Florida D played moderately better in the second half. It posted two straight stops to start and even held Alabama to a field goal on sudden change after Kyle Trask fumbled on a sack. They held Alabama scoreless for the entire third quarter! And say what you want but the defense got Trask and Co. the ball back with a chance to win. Albeit with fewer than 20 seconds left, but a chance nonetheless.

Special Teams: B

The Gators didn’t do much on special teams. Kadarius Toney and Malik Davis actually posted some great returns on kickoff. Evan McPherson nailed his lone field goal of the evening. Meanwhile, Jacob Finn and the punt team continue to show how good they are at pinning teams deep.

In Conclusion:

The game played out in reverse of what I expected. The Tide pulled away early but the Gators reeled them and made it a dogfight in the second half. Lots of things to gripe about like bad defense, inopportune drive stalls or sacks, a turnover in your own territory or Dan Mullen making some head scratching play calls. But the fact of the matter is this was probably the closest a Florida team’s played Alabama in years. This offense showed it can have Florida compete with any team in football by putting on the show it did against the Tide. And Kyle Trask showed why he should at the very least get consideration for the Heisman. Trust me, this team is not there yet. We all see it. But Saturday night showed the Gators are capable of closing the gap.