At stake is the manhood of the guys up front. Alabama thinks it can run up Florida’s gut. The Gators are going to have to prove the Tide wrong in order to beat them Saturday.
It begins with the Gators going into Bryant-Denny Stadium and proving they aren’t going to be intimidated.
Just based on what we saw in last December’s SEC championship game, Nick Saban will no doubt roll out his power game. With an outstanding offensive line led by guard Barrett Jones and backfield with the best tandem of running backs in America, I expect them to come strong.
In fact, if I were Saban, I’d break out two tight ends, put both Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson in the stack I formation and run right at Florida until the Gators proved they could stop them. If the Gators have vulnerability on defense – although this hasn’t yet been proven – it might be the lack of a Brandon Spikes-like physical presence in the middle.
Don’t get me wrong – there will be some girth in Florida’s “heavy” formation this week. More girth than Dan McCarney has had all season with the return of Lawrence Marsh, Terron Sanders and Brandon Antwine at full strength. With Duke Lemmens standing up at linebacker and Jaye Howard, Shariff Floyd, Omar Hunter, Justin Trattou and the likes across the front, plus Jon Bostic, Jelani Jenkins, A. J. Jones and Brandon Hicks rotating at linebacker, there will be fresh legs the give chase.
So maybe they can track down Ingram and Richardson. That’s just part of the assignment. Then they’ve got to tackle them – something they didn’t do very well in last year’s SEC title game. By now, they can tell you the exact number of missed tackles when they last played: 22.
Personally, I’d like to see the backers and safeties crowd them at the line and try to make some stops before either Ingram or Richardson get a head of steam, although that obviously put the corners on and island and makes Florida vulnerable Greg McElroy’s passing.
But that’s OK, because if I’m Teryl Austin and Chuck Heater, I’m going to try and make McElroy beat me. That would also play right into the hands of Florida’s ballhawking secondary, best in the country with 12 interceptions. Ahmad Black is already on record as saying this was a “revenge game,” so he, Janoris Jenkins and Will Hill have a little blood in their eye. If Arkansas can pick him twice, then the Gators should be able to live up to their average of three interceptions per game.
I’m not just saying this because I work for the Gator Radio Network or write for GatorCountry.com, but I actually think Urban Meyer’s team has a chance of pulling off the upset. For once thing, Urban’s team have a history of playing extremely well as underdogs.
Although I’m not really privy to the game plan, defense or offense, I truly think Johnny Brantley is ready for a breakout game. He’s a cool customer in these situations and I doubt he’s going to be the least bit intimidated by Bryant-Denny.
Playing Kentucky at night last week gave the young Gators a chance to see what Big Boy football after dark is all about. What I love about this grand stage of SEC football is that all of this will be played out Saturday night before a national TV audience – and at the end of the night we are going to know if Alabama is truly the No. 1 team in the nation. Or whether the Florida Gators, the No. 7 team, are a whole lot better than people have been giving them credit for being.