ATLANTA — Nick Saban kept repeating the jersey numbers: 84 and 1. Eighty-four and one.
He was referring to Florida’s most explosive receiving threats, the two players who gave his Alabama team the most trouble during its 52–46 SEC championship game win here Saturday night: tight end Kyle Pitts (84) and versatile wideout Kadarius Toney (1). They are “serious mismatches”—Saban’s words—who combined for 15 catches, 282 yards and two touchdowns against his secondary.
In using Pitts and Toney as they did, the Gators created the closest thing to a blueprint on beating the Crimson Tide.