By Danny Atkinson
This Saturdays Florida-Alabama SEC title game rematch has been the season’s most anticipated matchup since its inception. The Gators and Crimson Tide are seen as the two best teams in the country and have been heading on a collision course for weeks. Whichever team wins will be heading to the BCS national championship game. What college fan can’t wait to see this game play out?
Like their opponent, Florida’s has one of the best defensive units in the nation. The Gators boast a swift, physical defense that’s allowed the nation’s fewest points and passing yards. Florida lost a huge weapon this week when linebacker Carlos Dunlap was suspended. His absence will put extra pressure on All-American LB Brandon Spike and teammates to shut down the running lanes of Alabama running back Mark Ingram. If they’re and the Gator’s secondary has their customarily strong game, then Alabama’s in trouble. The Gators are ranked ninth nationally in points scored, but much of their output has come against weak non-conference opponents. After a significant loss of offensive talent from last year’s team Tebow’s numbers are down, but he has still contributed 30 touchdowns and continued to show a knack for making clutch plays. The Gators offensive line has struggled while allowing Tebow to be sacked 25 times on the season. If Alabama can put constant pressure on Tebow and force him to try and do too much, then they could obtain some needed turnovers and swing the balance of the contest.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide have themselves a wrecking crew of a defense that ranks in the top-5 in total yards, passing yards, rushing yards and points allowed. With top NFL prospects in nose tackle Terrence Cody, LB Rolando McClain and defensive back Mark Barron, many believe they are the best defense in the country. The major key to the game is how much pressure this hellacious defense gets on Tebow. If Tebow regularly gets even a little bit of daylight, then he has the intelligence and clutch ability to burn the Crimson Tide. The Alabama offense is good but nothing spectacular, ranking 40th nationally in total yards. The program has a stud in Heisman candidate Ingram, who leads the SEC in rushing yards with 1429. Ingram bruised a hip in the team’s previous game verses Auburn and needs to be 100% for the Crimson Tide to generate any offensive firepower. ‘Bama’s inconsistency on offense comes from freshmen Greg McElroy’s play at quarterback. McElroy’s thrown only 4 interceptions but has shown freshman jitters at times, and the Crimson Tide passing attack is ranked 93rd in the nation. McElroy will have to avoid mistakes and make a big play or two if the Gators are able to slow down Ingram.
I have no doubt that this will be a close game, as these teams are very evenly matched. However, what this contest will come down to is turnovers. The Crimson Tide need to have Tebow be running for his life and make some costly errors, while the Florida wants to have McElroy make some rookie mistakes. While McElroy showed last week against Auburn that he can lead a game winning drive, he does not have the resume of Tim Tebow, who time and time again, including against Alabama in last year’s championship game, has shown the ability to make memorable plays in tight spots. My money’s on him. The game will be close throughout, but Tebow and the Florida defense will find a way to pull one out. Florida 17-14

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 8:11 am and is filed under NCAA Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.