September 18, 2021 Week 3 · Regular Season Belt defended

Alabama defends the belt, 31–29, on the road at Florida.

Home · Challenger

FloridaAP No. 11 29

Away · Defending Holder

AlabamaAP No. 1 31

AP poll, week 3: 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 294 days into reign #315, which began with a win over Auburn, with 7 defenses already behind it; this was its 8th defense. Alabama went on to defend it 2 more times before Texas A&M took it on October 9, 2021, 315 days after the reign began.

For Florida this was its 22nd shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before.

It was the 8th of 8 belt games between the two; going in, Alabama led the belt series 6–1; all-time Alabama leads 7–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

Alabama's high-powered passing attack led by Bryce Young proved too much for Florida to overcome in this defensive struggle at The Swamp. The Crimson Tide jumped out to an early lead with three touchdown passes in the first quarter alone—Young connecting with Jase McClellan, Jahleel Billingsley, and Brian Robinson Jr.—while Alabama's defense forced an Emory Jones interception to Jalyn Armour-Davis. Florida clawed back throughout the game with a ground-heavy attack led by Malik Davis and Dameon Pierce, scoring four rushing touchdowns to stay competitive, but Alabama's overall efficiency and turnover-free performance proved decisive in the close contest. Will Reichard's late field goal in the fourth quarter provided crucial breathing room, and despite Florida's two-point conversion attempt falling short on their final touchdown drive, Alabama held on to keep the belt.

Three Alabama touchdown passes in Q1 (Young to McClellan, Billingsley, and Robinson Jr.) established early offensive dominance
Jalyn Armour-Davis interception of Emory Jones in Q1 prevented Florida from building momentum early
Dameon Pierce's two rushing touchdowns (Q2 and Q3) kept Florida within striking distance and threatened to shift momentum
Will Reichard's 24-yard field goal with 9:25 remaining in Q4 provided the crucial two-point cushion Alabama needed to hold on

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 yards440331

Rushing yards24591

Passing yards195240

First downs2619

3rd down conv.4/127/13

Turnovers10

Penalties–yards7–6711–75

Time of possession31:5028:10

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 11:21	Alabama	+7 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jase McClellan for 7 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 12:33	Alabama	+23 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 23 yds to the Fla 5 for a 1ST down
Q1 7:08	Florida	+25 yd	Chris Howard 25 yd FG GOOD
Q1 9:05	Florida	+21 yd	Emory Jones pass complete to Kemore Gamble for 21 yds to the Alab 23 for a 1ST down
Q1 9:50	Florida	+20 yd	Malik Davis run for 20 yds to the Alab 49 for a 1ST down
Q1 4:14	Alabama	+26 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jahleel Billingsley for 26 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q1 3:12	Florida	+4 yd	Emory Jones pass intercepted Jalyn Armour-Davis return for 4 yds to the Fla 38
Q1 0:48	Alabama	+7 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Brian Robinson Jr. for 7 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q2 6:34	Florida	+26 yd	Malik Davis run for 26 yds for a TD, (Chris Howard PAT MISSED)
Q2 8:03	Florida	+30 yd	Emory Jones pass complete to Keon Zipperer for 30 yds to the Alab 45 for a 1ST down
Q2 6:34	Florida	+21 yd	Jace Christmann kickoff for 60 yds , Jameson Williams return for 21 yds to the Alab 26
Q2 3:36	Florida	+26 yd	Emory Jones pass complete to Rick Wells for 26 yds to the Alab 48 for a 1ST down
Q3 10:20	Florida	+3 yd	Dameon Pierce run for 3 yds for a TD, (Chris Howard KICK)
Q3 8:15	Alabama	+29 yd	Bryce Young pass complete to Jameson Williams for 29 yds to the Fla 28 for a 1ST down
Q3 4:33	Alabama	+3 yd	Brian Robinson Jr. run for 3 yds for a TD, (Will Reichard KICK)
Q3 3:27	Florida	+30 yd	Nay'Quan Wright run for 30 yds to the Fla 49 for a 1ST down
Q3 0:29	Florida	+5 yd	Emory Jones run for 5 yds for a TD, (Chris Howard KICK)
Q3 0:29	Florida	+30 yd	Jace Christmann kickoff for 65 yds , Jameson Williams return for 30 yds to the Alab 30
Q4 9:25	Alabama	+24 yd	Will Reichard 24 yd FG GOOD
Q4 7:10	Florida	-2 yd	Emory Jones run for a loss of 2 yards to the Fla 43 Emory Jones fumbled, recovered by Fla Emory Jones
Q4 3:10	Florida	+17 yd	Dameon Pierce run for 17 yds for a TD, (Two-Point Conversion failed)

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	QBR
Emory Jones	18/28	195	7.0	0	1	77.9

Alabama

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Bryce Young	22/35	240	6.9	3	0	86.8

Rushing

Florida

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Malik Davis	10	86	8.6	1	26
Emory Jones	19	77	4.1	1	14
Nay'Quan Wright	7	58	8.3	0	30
Dameon Pierce	7	24	3.4	2	17

Alabama

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Brian Robinson Jr.	15	78	5.2	1	23
Jase McClellan	9	17	1.9	0	5
Bryce Young	4	-4	-1.0	0	7

Receiving

Florida

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Keon Zipperer	4	51	12.8	30
Trent Whittemore	4	35	8.8	17
Kemore Gamble	5	32	6.4	21
Rick Wells	1	26	26.0	26
Xzavier Henderson	1	18	18.0	18
Nay'Quan Wright	1	18	18.0	18
Jacob Copeland	1	10	10.0	10
Malik Davis	1	5	5.0	5

Alabama

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jameson Williams	4	61	15.3	0	29
John Metchie	6	49	8.2	0	12
Jase McClellan	4	41	10.3	1	18
Jahleel Billingsley	1	26	26.0	1	26
Cameron Latu	2	19	9.5	0	10
Slade Bolden	3	19	6.3	0	15
JoJo Earle	1	18	18.0	0	18
Brian Robinson Jr.	1	7	7.0	1	7

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Florida

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Rashad Torrence II	8	5	0	0	0	0
Trey Dean III	8	3	0	0.5	0	0
Mohamoud Diabate	8	3	0	0.5	0	0
Gervon Dexter	8	1	1	1	0	0
Jeremiah Moon	5	2	0	0.5	1	1
Daquan Newkirk	5	1	0	0	0	0
Tre'Vez Johnson	4	3	0	1	2	0
Brenton Cox	4	1	1	1	1	1
Amari Burney	4	1	0	0	0	0
Mordecai McDaniel	3	0	0	0	0	0
Avery Helm	2	1	0	1	0	0
Zachary Carter	2	0	0	0.5	0	2
Jason Marshall Jr.	2	0	0	0	0	0
Kaiir Elam	2	0	0	0	3	0
Antonio Shelton	1	1	0	1	0	1
Lacedrick Brunson	1	1	0	0	0	0
Xzavier Henderson	1	1	0	0	0	0
Diwun Black	1	1	0	0	0	0
Desmond Watson	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ty'Ron Hopper	1	0	0	0	0	0
Khris Bogle	0	0	0	0	0	1

Alabama

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
DeMarcco Hellams	11	6	0	0	0	0
Henry To'o To'o	9	3	0	0	0	0
Will Anderson Jr.	7	4	0	2	0	1
Phidarian Mathis	7	1	0.5	0.5	0	1
Drew Sanders	6	4	0	1	0	1
Christian Harris	6	3	0	1	0	0
Josh Jobe	4	3	0	0	1	0
Jordan Battle	4	3	0	0	0	0
Byron Young	4	1	0	1	0	0
DJ Dale	3	3	0	1	0	0
Tim Smith	3	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
Chris Braswell	2	1	0	0	0	0
Malachi Moore	2	1	0	0	0	0
Brian Branch	2	1	0	0	1	1
Jalyn Armour-Davis	1	1	0	0	1	0
Jaylen Moody	1	1	0	0	0	0
LaBryan Ray	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jase McClellan	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kool-Aid McKinstry	1	0	0	0	0	0
Justin Eboigbe	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fumbles

Florida

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Ja'Markis Weston	1	0	0

Alabama

No recorded stats in this category.

Interceptions

Florida

No recorded stats in this category.

Alabama

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jalyn Armour-Davis	1	4	0

Kick Returns

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Ja'Markis Weston	2	15	7.5	14	0

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jameson Williams	2	51	25.5	30	0

Kicking

Florida

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Christopher Howard	1/1	100.0	25	2/3	5

Alabama

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Will Reichard	1/1	100.0	24	4/4	7

Punt Returns

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Xzavier Henderson	2	-2	-1.0	0	0

Alabama

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Florida

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jeremy Crawshaw	2	94	47.0	0	1	53

Alabama

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
James Burnip	4	170	42.5	0	0	48

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 401282071) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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