December 19, 2020 Week 16 · Regular Season Neutral site Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 52–46, at a neutral site over Florida.

Home · Challenger

FloridaAP No. 11 46

Away · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 52

AP poll, week 16: Alabama No. 1 at Florida No. 11 · No. 1 that week: Georgia. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Alabama came in 21 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Alabama went on to defend it 7 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Florida this was its 21st shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before.

It was the 7th of 8 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 5–1; all-time Alabama leads 7–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's high-powered offense proved too much for Florida to handle in this matchup, as the Crimson Tide dominated the second half despite a back-and-forth first half. Mac Jones led Alabama's relentless attack, connecting with DeVonta Smith twice for touchdowns and hitting Najee Harris three times in the end zone to build an insurmountable lead. Florida kept pace early behind Kyle Trask's arm, with Kadarius Toney catching a 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter and Trevon Grimes hauling in a 50-yard score in the third, but Alabama's defense and special teams execution ultimately wore down the Gators. The Tide's control of time of possession—34:21 to Florida's 25:39—and superior third-down efficiency (9-15 vs 8-11) allowed them to sustain drives and keep Florida's offense off the field, securing the belt with the 52-46 victory.

Mac Jones to DeVonta Smith 31-yard TD in Q1 gave Alabama early momentum
Alabama's three touchdown passes to Najee Harris (7, 23, and 17 yards) showed offensive diversity and overwhelmed Florida's defense
Florida's Kyle Trask touchdown run with 1:09 left in Q2 kept the game close but came too late to swing momentum
Alabama's possession and third-down efficiency advantage allowed them to wear down Florida and control the game in the second half

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

FloridaAlabama

Total yards462605

Rushing yards54187

Passing yards408418

First downs2633

3rd down conv.8/119/15

Turnovers21

Penalties–yards6–508–72

Time of possession25:3934:21

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 12:20	Alabama	+8 yd	Najee Harris run for 8 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 15:00	Florida	+60 yd	Evan McPherson kickoff for 65 yds for a touchback FLORIDA Penalty, Defensive Offside (-5 Yards)
Q1 11:42	Florida	+0 yd	Kyle Trask run for no gain to the Fla 31 Kyle Trask fumbled, recovered by Fla Kyle Trask
Q1 10:05	Florida	+51 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kadarius Toney for 51 yds for a TD (Evan McPherson KICK)
Q1 12:20	Alabama	+24 yd	Will Reichard kickoff for 62 yds , Kadarius Toney return for 24 yds to the Fla 27
Q1 6:21	Alabama	+19 yd	Mac Jones pass intercepted Trey Dean III return for 19 yds to the Fla 31 Trey Dean III fumbled, forced by John Metchie III, recovered by Alab DeVonta Smith
Q1 9:20	Alabama	+24 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 24 yds to the Alab 36 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:07	Alabama	+31 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 31 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 1:57	Florida	+40 yd	Evan McPherson 40 yd FG GOOD
Q1 1:57	Florida	+27 yd	Evan McPherson kickoff for 65 yds , Jahleel Billingsley return for 27 yds to the Alab 27
Q2 11:27	Alabama	+7 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Najee Harris for 7 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 8:27	Florida	+20 yd	Jacob Finn punt for 45 yds , DeVonta Smith returns for 20 yds to the Alab 30
Q2 11:27	Alabama	+22 yd	Will Reichard kickoff for 55 yds , Malik Davis return for 22 yds to the Fla 32
Q2 2:28	Alabama	+23 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Najee Harris for 23 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 1:09	Florida	+1 yd	Kyle Trask run for 1 yd for a TD (Evan McPherson KICK)
Q2 2:22	Florida	+39 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kadarius Toney for 39 yds to the Alab 36 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:29	Florida	+27 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kadarius Toney for 27 yds to the Alab 1 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:09	Florida	+22 yd	Evan McPherson kickoff for 65 yds , Jahleel Billingsley return for 22 yds to the Alab 22
Q2 0:57	Alabama	+25 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Slade Bolden for 25 yds to the Alab 47 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:37	Alabama	+21 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 21 yds to the Fla 32 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:06	Alabama	+17 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to Najee Harris for 17 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 13:25	Florida	+50 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Trevon Grimes for 50 yds for a TD (Evan McPherson KICK)
Q3 12:46	Alabama	+26 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to John Metchie III for 26 yds to the Fla 45 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:19	Alabama	+27 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 27 yds to the Fla 44 for a 1ST down
Q3 4:33	Florida	+20 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kyle Pitts for 20 yds to the Fla 33 for a 1ST down
Q3 3:57	Florida	+25 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Trevon Grimes for 25 yds to the Alab 30 for a 1ST down
Q3 5:05	Florida	-7 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Jacob Copeland for a loss of 7 yards Jacob Copeland fumbled, forced by Dylan Moses, recovered by Fla Jacob Copeland
Q3 0:18	Florida	+3 yd	Nay'Quan Wright run for 3 yds for a TD (Evan McPherson KICK)
Q4 11:29	Alabama	+1 yd	Najee Harris run for 1 yd for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q4 13:55	Alabama	+20 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to John Metchie III for 20 yds to the Fla 45 for a 1ST down
Q4 9:53	Alabama	+20 yd	Will Reichard 20 yd FG GOOD
Q4 8:42	Florida	+2 yd	Malik Davis run for 2 yds to the Alab 36 Malik Davis fumbled, forced by Christian Barmore, recovered by Fla Jacob Copeland
Q4 6:33	Florida	+1 yd	Dameon Pierce run for 1 yd for a TD (Evan McPherson KICK)
Q4 9:18	Florida	+31 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kyle Pitts for 31 yds to the Alab 38 for a 1ST down
Q4 7:45	Florida	+25 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kyle Pitts for 25 yds to the Alab 1 for a 1ST down
Q4 4:59	Alabama	+15 yd	Mac Jones pass complete to DeVonta Smith for 15 yds for a TD (Will Reichard KICK)
Q4 6:05	Alabama	+29 yd	Najee Harris run for 29 yds to the Fla 18 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:07	Florida	+22 yd	Kyle Trask pass complete to Kyle Pitts for 22 yds for a TD Timeout FLORIDA, clock 02:07 ALABAMA Penalty, Defensive Pass Interference (Josh Jobe) to the Alab 1 (K. Trask Run For Two-point Conversion)

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

Florida

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Kyle Trask	26/40	408	10.2	3	0

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Mac Jones	33/43	418	9.7	5	1

Rushing

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Emory Jones	2	24	12.0	0	17
Kadarius Toney	2	15	7.5	0	13
Nay'Quan Wright	4	11	2.8	1	6
Dameon Pierce	2	2	1.0	1	1
Malik Davis	1	2	2.0	0	2
Kyle Trask	15	0	0.4	1	6

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Najee Harris	31	178	5.7	2	29
Brian Robinson Jr.	4	19	4.8	0	8
Miller Forristall	1	1	1.0	0	1
Jahleel Billingsley	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
Mac Jones	3	-8	-2.7	0	1

Receiving

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kadarius Toney	8	153	19.1	1	51
Kyle Pitts	7	129	18.4	1	31
Trevon Grimes	4	78	19.5	1	50
Nay'Quan Wright	3	27	9.0	0	13
Malik Davis	2	15	7.5	0	11
Jacob Copeland	2	6	3.0	0	13

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
DeVonta Smith	15	184	12.3	2	31
Najee Harris	5	67	13.4	3	23
John Metchie	4	62	15.5	0	26
Slade Bolden	2	40	20.0	0	25
Jahleel Billingsley	2	29	14.5	0	15
Miller Forristall	3	20	6.7	0	11
Xavier Williams	1	12	12.0	0	12
Major Tennison	1	4	4.0	0	4

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Florida

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Amari Burney	10	8	0	0.5	0	0
Mohamoud Diabate	10	5	0	1	0	0
Brad Stewart	9	5	0	0.5	1	0
Donovan Stiner	9	5	0	0	0	0
James Houston IV	8	6	0	0	0	0
Kaiir Elam	6	5	0	0	0	0
Ventrell Miller	6	4	0	0	0	0
Marco Wilson	5	3	0	0	0	0
Trey Dean III	4	4	0	0	0	0
Khris Bogle	4	2	0	0	0	0
Gervon Dexter	3	2	0	0	0	0
Zachary Carter	2	2	1	2	0	0
Brenton Cox	2	1	0	0	1	1
Jahari Rogers	2	1	0	0	0	0
Andrew Chatfield Jr.	1	1	1	1	0	0
Tedarrell Slaton	1	1	0	0	0	0
Mordecai McDaniel	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ty'Ron Hopper	1	0	0	0	0	0

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Will Anderson Jr.	6	5	2	2	0
Dylan Moses	6	4	0	1	1
Jordan Battle	6	4	0	1	1
Daniel Wright	6	2	0	0	0
Christopher Allen	5	4	1	1	0
Josh Jobe	5	3	0	0	3
Christian Barmore	5	2	0	0	0
Brian Branch	4	3	0	0	0
Patrick Surtain II	3	3	0	0	2
Christian Harris	3	2	2	2	0
Malachi Moore	3	0	0	0	0
DeMarcco Hellams	2	2	0	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	2	2	0	0	0
Ben Davis	1	1	0	0	0
John Metchie	1	1	0	0	0
DJ Dale	1	1	0	0	0

Fumbles

Florida

Player	FUM	LOST
Kyle Trask	2	1
Trey Dean III	1	1
Malik Davis	1	0
Jacob Copeland	1	0

Alabama

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Tim Smith	0	0	1
DeVonta Smith	0	0	1

Interceptions

Florida

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Trey Dean III	1	19	0

Alabama

No recorded stats in this category.

Kick Returns

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kadarius Toney	2	41	20.5	24	0
Malik Davis	1	22	22.0	22	0

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jahleel Billingsley	3	66	22.0	27	0
DeVonta Smith	1	4	4.0	4	0

Kicking

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Evan McPherson	1/1	100.0	40	5/5	8

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	1/1	100.0	20	7/7	10

Punt Returns

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Kadarius Toney	1	2	2.0	2	0

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeVonta Smith	1	20	20.0	20	0

Punting

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jacob Finn	2	83	41.5	0	1	45

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Charlie Scott	2	87	43.5	1	1	44

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 401237074) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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