Who’s hot and who’s not? The weekly awards from the SEC Championship Game

We have only two SEC teams to discuss in this week’s edition of Who’s Hot, Who’s Not, but we still have plenty of ways to break it down.

It’s hard to pinpoint an area of weakness for Alabama after Saturday’s SEC Championship Game because they outplayed Florida on offense, defense, and special teams in the 29-15 win. The Gators? Well, they have their issues.

Here is our SEC championship version of our weekly Hot or Not:

WHO’S HOT

• Alabama Crimson Tide, 2015 SEC Champions. Despite the mid-September stumble against Ole Miss, it’s the Alabama Crimson Tide who are the champions of the year. The Tide finished with a 12-1 overall record, 7-1 in the conference, and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff for the second straight year. They are the only team to make the playoffs both seasons. Alabama will play Michigan State on Dec. 31 in the semifinals.
• RB Derrick Henry. Alabama’s star running back added another performance to his Heisman Trophy resume with a 44-carry, 189-yard game. He’s been a busy man. He carried 46 times a week earlier against Auburn.
• WR Calvin Ridley. There’s no question that the Tide likes to run the ball first, but when they do go to the passing game, Ridley is there. He proved on Saturday why he deserves to be Alabama’s No. 1 receiver, averaging 12.8 yards per catch on his eight receptions. His most spectacular play was just before halftime, when he made a 55-yard completion down to the Florida 3-yard line, which set up Henry’s touchdown.
• Florida’s defense. Just as it’s been for most of the season, the Gators’ defense played at an elite level. It’s truly a shame that they get no help from their offense.
• WR/KR Antonio Callaway. The silver lining to Florida’s otherwise terrible offense is that there is potential in some young players. That’s especially true of freshman Antonio Callaway. He only had one reception on Saturday, but it was for 46 yards. The play of the game for the Gators was his 85-yard punt return touchdown, which gave the Gators an early lead.

WHO’S NOT

• Florida’s offensive line. As the center of any team’s offense, the blame has to start here for Florida’s offensive woes. And this should not come as a surprise, since the Gators’ offensive front was the biggest concern during the preseason. Alabama’s defensive line found ways to live in the UF backfield again and again. Florida had a total of 15 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
• QB Treon Harris. If you have a weak offensive line, it follows that your quarterback won’t have time to perform at his best. While that certainly holds true for Harris, his performance cannot be entirely excused. He struggled with accuracy and decision-making and was rushed into mistakes often.

Christine Wang

Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.