In recent years, the Alabama and Florida matchup has become much more significant, particularly in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In 2008, the matchup came in the form of the SEC Championship game – a game that some argue should have been the National Championship. The Crimson Tide lost that game, but came back the following year and sent Tebow and the Gators home crying, literally.
Unfortunately, Florida head coach Will Muschamp doesn’t have history on his side for this one, as the Tide and Saban have beaten the Gators the last three matchups. In the 2010 and 2011 season, Alabama outscored Florida 69-16. Florida is coming off of a big win, ousting Kentucky after three overtimes with a touchdown as time expired. Now they will try to go on the road and beat No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama has started the season off very slow and this matchup is a perfect opportunity for them to show the nation they deserve the number one spot. The West Virginia game was very sloppy and both the Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss games were auditions for QBs Sims and Coker. So have we really seen what Alabama is made of?
With the exception of their road win over Kentucky, Florida started the season off with a canceled game against Idaho and routed Eastern Michigan the following week, but what we do know is that the Gators have a very talented secondary that could pose problems for Alabama’s receiving corps.
Alabama’s Amari Cooper leads the SEC in receiving yards and Vernon Hargreaves III is arguably the best cornerback in the country. This is going to be the first time Cooper is tested by a pro-caliber cornerback on the outside, so it will be interesting to see if he can make big plays under solid man coverage.
The first two games of this season, Alabama has tested out both Sims and Coker at the QB spot. This week against Florida, Sims will start in his first SEC game and hopefully prove he has what it takes to lead this team to the division title in the West. If he doesn’t stay focused early, this could be a huge opportunity for the Gator defense to get into his head a little bit. As for Florida’s Driskel, he threw for 295 yards against Kentucky and was sacked twice in that game. Trey DePriest, who looks to be settling in on defense, could attack the pocket and make a big difference for Alabama on Saturday.
The Gators haven’t won in Tuscaloosa since 1998, but will look to change that on Saturday. Everyone in the nation is calling on the Tide to show them they should be ranked number one, so how will they answer? We will find out in primetime.
Date: September 20, 2014
Where: Tuscaloosa, AL –Bryant-Denny Stadium
Time: 3:30EST on CBS
Spread: 14.5-15 (Oddsshark.com)
*Section Photo credit to Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Matthew Emmons, USA Today Sports
