Even though Florida and Alabama came into the  SEC Championship Game as two of the three most-penalized teams in the SEC, each played a fairly clean game Saturday night in Atlanta. The Crimson Tide won the game 29-15, though it wasn’t really that close.

And the officials had no real bearing on the outcome. Florida was whistled only five times for 51 yards. Alabama got caught five times as well, for 35 yards. None of the penalties had a profound impact on the game.

It didn’t cost them in the end, but Alabama’s two most egregious penalties were for illegal blocks in the back on punt returns, giving them poor field position. It did lead to an epic Nick Saban sideline rant, however.

For Florida, there were no real daggers from the officials either. What hurt the Gators most were untimely penalties. The primary focus of their game plan coming in was to stay on schedule with down and distance, but that didn’t happen. On two occasions when the Gators were actually leading the game, penalties on first down pushed them back and led to quick punts.

The two that hurt the most came in the second quarter when Florida was ahead 7-5. Looking to hold on to momentum, Florida wanted to answer an Alabama field-goal drive, but Tyler Jordan was called for holding on first down, forcing bad field position and a punt three downs later. On the next possession, QB Treon Harris was called for an illegal forward pass on first down, again putting Florida in a difficult spot with down and distance. That drive also ended with a quick punt.

The drive-stalling penalties really hurt because they couldn’t get the Florida defense any rest. Florida only ran eight plays in the second quarter and two were negated by the penalties.

Florida’s defense had one bad penalty, too. On the first drive of the third quarter, with Alabama ahead just 12-7, QB Jake Coker threw an incomplete pass on third down that would have forced a punt. Instead Florida’s Jarrad Davis was called for roughing the passer and the Alabama drive stayed alive. It ended with a field goal and a 15-7 lead.

A penalty even cost the Gators on the ensuing possession, when a false start penalty on third-and-10 made things tougher. The Gators never converted a third down all game and Florida never really answered after that.