December 5, 2009 Week 14 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt changed hands

Alabama takes the belt, 32–13, at a neutral site over Florida.

Home · New Holder

AlabamaAP No. 2 32

Away · Defending Holder

FloridaAP No. 1 13

AP poll, week 14: Florida No. 1 at Alabama No. 2 · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama took the belt here, ending Florida’s run of 331 days and 12 defenses (reign #270) and starting reign #271. It lasted 308 days and 6 defenses, until South Carolina took it on October 9, 2010.

For Alabama this was its 19th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 8 times before — and it took it back here.

It was the 4th of 8 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 2–1; all-time Alabama leads 7–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama dominated Florida from start to finish to claim the College Football Belt with a decisive 32-13 victory in Gainesville. The Crimson Tide's offense was relentless, with Mark Ingram scoring three touchdowns and Greg McElroy orchestrating an efficient passing attack that kept Florida's defense off-balance all afternoon. Florida struck first with a field goal, then answered Alabama's early touchdown with a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to David Nelson, but Alabama's defense held firm while the offense continued to execute, including a devastating 69-yard completion from McElroy to Ingram that set up another score before halftime. Alabama's third-quarter touchdown pass to Colin Peek extended the lead to insurmountable levels, and a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown by Ingram put the game completely out of reach. Florida's lone touchdown came too late and too little, as Alabama's ball control and efficiency on third down proved to be the difference in this wire-to-wire victory.

Mark Ingram's three touchdowns (7-yard rush in Q1, 3-yard rush in Q2, 1-yard rush in Q4) provided Alabama's scoring foundation
The 69-yard McElroy-to-Ingram completion in the second quarter that set up Alabama's second touchdown and shifted momentum decisively
Alabama's 11-of-15 third-down conversion rate versus Florida's 4-of-11, showcasing superior offensive execution and drive sustainability
Colin Peek's touchdown reception in the third quarter that extended Alabama's lead to 26-10 and eliminated any Florida comeback hopes

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

AlabamaFlorida

Total yards490335

Rushing yards25188

Passing yards249247

First downs2613

3rd down conv.11/154/11

Turnovers01

Penalties–yards1–55–51

Time of possession24:1712:23

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 10:37	Alabama	+48 yd	Leigh Tiffin 48 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 10:37	Alabama	+26 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 70 yards returned by Brandon James for 26 yards to the Fla 26.
Q1 5:33	Alabama	+7 yd	Mark Ingram rush for 7 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 4:08	Alabama	+26 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 70 yards returned by Brandon James for 26 yards to the Fla 13, FLORIDA penalty 13 yard personal foul accepted.
Q1 0:28	Florida	+32 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 70 yards returned by Javier Arenas for 32 yards to the Alab 32.
Q1 0:28	Florida	+48 yd	Caleb Sturgis 48 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 9:50	Alabama	+34 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Marquis Maze for 34 yards to the Fla 27 for a 1ST down.
Q2 5:13	Alabama	+25 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 65 yards returned by Brandon James for 25 yards to the Fla 30.
Q2 6:03	Alabama	+34 yd	Leigh Tiffin 34 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 4:31	Florida	+23 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 23 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 4:31	Florida	+0 yd	Caleb Sturgis extra point GOOD.
Q2 4:31	Florida	+28 yd	Caleb Sturgis kickoff for 70 yards returned by Javier Arenas for 28 yards to the Alab 28.
Q2 5:13	Florida	+23 yd	Tim Tebow rush for 23 yards to the Alab 38 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:55	Alabama	+69 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Mark Ingram for 69 yards to the Fla 3 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:32	Alabama	+3 yd	Mark Ingram rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 3:32	Alabama	+0 yd	Leigh Tiffin extra point GOOD.
Q2 3:10	Florida	+59 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Riley Cooper for 59 yards to the Alab 21 for a 1ST down.
Q2 1:18	Florida	+32 yd	Caleb Sturgis 32 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 14:44	Alabama	+27 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 68 yards returned by Jeffery Demps for 27 yards to the Fla 29.
Q3 9:53	Alabama	+17 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Colin Peek for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 10:10	Alabama	+28 yd	Greg McElroy pass complete to Marquis Maze for 28 yards to the Fla 32 for a 1ST down.
Q3 9:53	Alabama	+27 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 70 yards returned by Jeffery Demps for 27 yards to the Fla 27.
Q3 9:53	Alabama	+0 yd	Leigh Tiffin extra point GOOD.
Q4 13:49	Alabama	+1 yd	Mark Ingram rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 7:27	Alabama	+25 yd	Trent Richardson rush for 25 yards to the Alab 37 for a 1ST down.
Q4 13:49	Alabama	+28 yd	Leigh Tiffin kickoff for 63 yards returned by Chris Rainey for 28 yards to the Fla 35.
Q4 12:24	Florida	+22 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 22 yards to the Alab 28 for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:01	Florida	+22 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to David Nelson for 22 yards to the Alab 6 for a 1ST down.
Q4 11:51	Florida	+0 yd	Tim Tebow pass intercepted by Javier Arenas at the Alab 0, returned for no gain for a touchback.
Q4 8:45	Florida	+38 yd	Tim Tebow pass complete to Aaron Hernandez for 38 yards to the Alab 20 for a 1ST down.
Q4 1:26	Alabama	+29 yd	Roy Upchurch rush for 29 yards to the Fla 12 for a 1ST down.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Greg McElroy	12/18	239	13.3	1	0	93.3

Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Tim Tebow	20/35	247	7.1	1	1	32.3

Rushing

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Mark Ingram	28	113	4.0	3	15
Trent Richardson	11	80	7.3	0	25
Roy Upchurch	7	57	8.1	0	29
Greg McElroy	4	10	2.5	0	8

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Tim Tebow	10	63	6.3	23
Brandon James	1	9	9.0	9
Jeff Demps	1	9	9.0	9
Chris Rainey	2	7	3.5	8

Receiving

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Marquis Maze	5	96	19.2	0	34
Mark Ingram	2	76	38.0	0	69
Colin Peek	3	39	13.0	1	19
Julio Jones	2	28	14.0	0	18

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Aaron Hernandez	8	85	10.6	0	38
Riley Cooper	3	77	25.7	0	59
David Nelson	4	53	13.3	1	23
Deonte Thompson	2	22	11.0	0	19
Brandon James	1	9	9.0	0	9
Omarius Hines	1	4	4.0	0	4
Emmanuel Moody	1	-3	-3.0	0	-3

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Javier Arenas	1	0	0

Florida

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Javier Arenas	3	79	26.3	32	0

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Brandon James	3	78	26.0	26
Jeff Demps	2	55	27.5	28
Chris Rainey	1	28	28.0	28

Kicking

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Leigh Tiffin	2/2	100.0	48	2/3	8

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Caleb Sturgis	2/2	100.0	48	1/1	7

Punt Returns

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Javier Arenas	2	8	4.0	8	0

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Brandon James	1	12	12.0	12	0
Joe Haden	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
P.J. Fitzgerald	2	83	41.5	0	0	43

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chas Henry	4	195	48.8	0	0	57

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 293390333) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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