Matt Hayes

ATLANTA - This is what happens when you spend money wisely.

Nick Saban was ripped and ridiculed and called a liar nearly three years ago, rolling into Tuscaloosa as the mercenary who swore he wouldn't coach Alabama before leaving the NFL to return the Tide to glory.

He's now one game away from doing just that.

"I thank God every day," said Alabama guard Mike Johnson, "that coach Saban and these coaches showed up and saved this program."

Call him Nicky Satan or The Nicktator or any other sophomoric punch line. Call him the best coach in college football, too.

There was a coaching clinic put on in Saturday's SEC championship game. And Saban earned every penny of that original $32 million contract in the Tide's 32-13 thumping of top-ranked and defending national champion Florida.

"I don't think we've ever been better prepared for a game," said Alabama tailback Mark Ingram.

This, everyone, was the infamous decided schematic advantage.

You want prepared? The Tide not only had Florida's collective heads spinning and guessing from the opening kick, the schemes Saban and his staff developed for the game of the year somehow made first-year starting quarterback Greg McElroy a better player than college football icon Tim Tebow.

Yep, Greg McElroy, the player former Alabama coach Mike Shula settled for when Tebow chose the Gators over the Tide, had the game of a lifetime in a scheme set up to make him the star.

I'd love to tell you about the architect of that scheme — Tide offensive coordinator Jim McElwain — but the Nicktator won't allow it. There's one voice for the Alabama program, and it's not the offensive coordinator who gave the nation's No. 1 defense its worst beating in two seasons.

"I'm a mute," McElwain said running off the field. "You have to clear it with (Saban). I still want a job."

Something tells me he'll still have one for a while.

Heisman Trophy candidate Mark Ingram scored three touchdowns, but make no mistake, the Tide don't snap Florida's 22-game winning streak, don't win the SEC for the first time since 1999, don't earn a spot in the BCS national championship game against Texas next month in Pasadena, without the nearly flawless play of McElroy. And an utterly perfect game plan from McElwain.

It got so bad for Florida, it went so horribly wrong for the unit that returned every starter from last year's national championship team, that Alabama turned the most anticipated game of the season into a WAC rout.

Florida expected Ingram and a bruising running game; it got McElroy setting up the run and loosening the defense with short to intermediate throws.

"Coach Mac was excited all week," McElroy said. "We had a great plan. We just had to execute it."

Special feature   On the Mark Running back Mark Ingram is Alabama's first Heisman Trophy winner.

On both sides of the ball. Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who never gets nearly enough credit because of Saban's defensive background, did what no other team has done this season: attack Florida at its weakest spot, receiver.

Instead of using blitzes to force Tebow into quick throws, the Tide dropped six and seven players into coverage and forced Tebow to find an open receiver.

It was like some sick game of chicken: Alabama kept dropping and flooding the secondary, and Florida kept chucking.

Suspended star defensive end Carlos Dunlap would've made a difference for Florida — if he suddenly morphed into Dan Mullen and started calling plays for the offense.

The Gators averaged 236 yards rushing — and 42 carries — a game, and had a season-low 88 yards rushing. More damaging: tailbacks Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey had a combined three carries all game, and Tebow attempted a season-high 35 passes.

Saban and his staff set the trap, and Florida willingly fell into it. That's coaching, everyone.

Since the day a caravan of black SUVs rolled down University Avenue three years ago carrying Alabama's future, Saban promised this would happen if everyone followed in step.

That first season finished in Shreveport. This one will finish in Pasadena.

"We've come a long way since that first year," Johnson said. "About as far as the distance between Shreveport to Pasadena."

This is what happens when you spend money wisely.

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