GatorCountry’s prediction podcast for the SEC Championship brings you all the latest information and breakdowns for the Florida Gators game against Alabama on Saturday afternoon.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down what the Florida Gators have to do in order to win this game and what quarterback Treon Harris needs to do.
Andrew and Nick also give you three players to watch in the game on Saturday, plus they predict the game as well other top games around the country.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew: Gator Country, your man, Andrew Spivey, is back. Nicholas de la Torre is back. It’s Friday of championship week. It’s been a great championship week. A busy one though, Nicholas.
Nick: Very busy championship week. Lot of stuff going on in the ‘cruiting world. Most people are counting the Gators out this week in Atlanta on Saturday, but crazier things have happened. I will be in the press box. You will be in the press box. We’ll drag ourselves out of the hotel and make our way to the stadium on Saturday, which is what we’ll do.
Andrew: As Coach Mac says, I guarantee you one thing. We’ll be there.
Nick: We’ll show up.
Andrew: We’ll show up. It’s fun. This time last year you and I were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out who was going to be the next football coach. I sure as hell love covering Hotlanta more than a coaching search.
Nick: How about that? I love not following a coaching search and being able to follow the coaching searches that are going on from the outside, much better.
Andrew: It’s a lot of fun.
Nick: This is much more fun.
Andrew: A lot of fun. It’s always fun to check them out and laugh at all the fake rumors going out. Certain people putting out rumors. Christobal’s going to Miami, that didn’t happen. It’s always fun. Nicholas, your good friend winds up at the U, Mark Richt at the U. Good thing there will only be a handful of fans watching him suck it up down at the U.
Nick: I actually think this is a good hire for Miami, and it’s kind of what I said all along about Mark Richt and that’s stability. Maybe he hasn’t won a championship, but his programs win games, and that’s what Miami needs right now. Get Miami to the place where they’re mad about 8 wins. Miami wins 8 next year, and they’re thrilled. They win 9 the year after that, thrilled. I do think it’s interesting, because Florida and Richt for 15 years have been going head to head for some football recruits. Now will continue to do that, but he’s, in my opinion, for kids of south Florida, has a more attractive location than Georgia, although Miami’s facilities might look the exact same as when Mark Richt was on campus as a student. You’re always going to have to combat that.
Andrew: It doesn’t matter, Nicholas. The guy’s a loser. He’s going to go down there, and you say good 8 wins, whatever. That’s what Golden was doing. The guy’s not a good football coach. He doesn’t win championships. It’s the same problem everybody else had there. He doesn’t win championships. It’s a good hire, because he’s a loser and going to Miami. Not a good hire.
Nick: I think it’s a good hire. He’s a Miami guy. Miami has been struggling.
Andrew: Miami wants to win championships. Is Mark Richt bringing championships to Miami?
Nick: Maybe.
Andrew: What possesses you to say that? What in your right mind gives you any idea to think that Mark Richt can bring a championship there? Has he done it in his 15 years at Georgia?
Nick: It’s a better hire than what South Carolina is trying to do.
Andrew: Willy Muschamp? That’s a great hire. What’s even worse, Nick, is they want Will Muschamp and T Rob as the defensive coordinator. T Rob, right? The guy that didn’t hardly coach his position. The guy that wanted Chris Lammons over every DB in Florida’s campus, except for Vernon Hargreaves. Now he gets to coach the loser, I mean he gets to be a loser and coach over there at Carolina with Chris Lammons. Lammons is a good player, I mean he’s not a good player, he’s okay. T Rob as defensive coordinator? Come on.
Nick: It will be Muschamp’s defense, and good for them, because Sky Moore, who they didn’t want at Florida, declared early, so he won’t have to put up with having Sky Moore be his linebacker.
Andrew: And the barber broke the story.
Nick: There you go.
Andrew: The barber broke the story.
Nick: It always goes down in the barber shop. Anyone will tell you that.
Andrew: Tripping in the barber shop. I guess he was like, “Give me a good cut. I don’t have the money to pay for it, so I’ll give you the scoop.” I don’t know what the barber gets out of it. Free haircuts because he broke the scoop. I don’t know.
Nick: I don’t know how that works. We’ll have to ask Silk what goes down in the barber shop.
Andrew: My man, Silk, always keeping it real. Nick, let’s get right ahead. D Rob back on the team this week. Seniors voted him back on. I’m going to say I’m a little surprised that it happened, but it did. We’ll see what happens this weekend. My question is does he play? Does Mac let him play, or does Mac hold him out? I don’t know.
Nick: I’ve said this before. I think Mac just washed his hands of the situation, kind of I’m not getting through to this kid, so if his teammates want him back, then that’s fine. I’m here for my team. I think the team said they want him back, and to me at that point Mac just says, “Absolutely. That’s fine. The team wanted him back. He’s back.” If he earns the right to play in practice, then we’re good.
Andrew: Yeah. I don’t know. We’ll see how that goes. As far as injuries go, pretty good injury wise for this week for the most part. That’s good. Be pretty healthy. Bullard’s going to be a guy that’s going to be, I would say hurt but playing. I think Alex McAlister plays a little bit. I know Mac says he’s out, but I think you can see him playing a little bit.
Nick: I know from talking to people that are close to him that he wanted to play last week. His ankle right now is still twice the size it should be, as his other ankle, but he wanted to play. I think it’s a situation where he’s been here a long time, and it’ll take a lot to keep him off the field in Atlanta.
Andrew: Right. That’s my thinking as well. I just wanted to see, I want to see with him and just want to see does he go through practice tomorrow? Does he go through warmup? Is he helping the team by playing, or what? Is he just out there because he wants to play? We see that with Antonio Morrison.
Nick: That’s what you need to assess if you’re the coaching staff. You need say, “Obviously a healthy Alex McAlister makes our defense better, but if we’re putting an Alex McAlister out there that is handcuffing us, are we choosing to play 10 and 11 just to put 14 on the field? Just to put Alex McAlister on the field?” Antonio Morrison pulled himself from the game. I think there was a play where he’s not great in coverage, but a healthy Antonio Morrison makes the play last week against FSU, and I think he realized, “Coach, I need to get out of here. Having me on the field is hurting the team. You got to find someone else to fill in.”
Andrew: Exactly. That’s kind of where I’m at with McAlister. Where does that go with him this week? Does it go where he’s able to help the team out a little bit? There’s no doubt a 75% healthy McAlister is better than 0. That’s my biggest thing in this game. Looking ahead, let’s just go right ahead. Let’s look at some of the key matchups this week. It’s going to be, my opinion, Florida’s defensive line versus Alabama’s offensive line and vice versa, Alabama’s defensive line versus Florida offensive line. Who wins the battle in those two positions could be whether the game stays close, gets out of hand, Florida pulls the upset. I think it’s all there.
If Florida’s defensive line is able to create pressure all day, as Marq Burnett told us the other day on the podcast, Arkansas did well because they hit Henry in the back field a lot. That’s what Alabama did to Fournette. If Florida’s able to get pressure there in the back field and hold Henry down, and then get some sacks against Alabama, then who knows what happens? You switch it around, and Florida’s offensive line’s got to get Treon some time and has got to create some holes for Kelvin Taylor.
Nick: Here’s what I think needs to happen, and it’s something we mentioned earlier in the year when Barrett told us, when Florida started 5-0, that Florida was the most complete team. What they were doing at that point in time was scoring first, and we talked a lot about how Florida was scoring on either the second drive of the game or the first drive of the game, and that allowed the defense to play with a lead and to play ahead, be a little bit more aggressive. I think you can’t underestimate how much momentum and confidence affects athletes, especially athletes when we’re talking 18, 19, 20, 21 years old, 37 years old in Jake McGee’s case. When you’re talking about young athletes, confidence and momentum is such a game changer. Florida hasn’t been getting on the board first.
If Florida can somehow, I don’t know how they’re going to get points. If Florida can somehow get a lead, maybe a 10-0 lead on Alabama, now you’re putting the ball in Coker’s hands, and not letting Alabama do what they did against Auburn and run Derrick Henry damn near 50 times. If you can do that, I say that’s how you’re going to beat, as every defense their game plan is put a spy on Treon, shut down the running game, make Treon beat you. For Florida it’s get a lead, let our defense play with some fire and some aggression. Try to take Derrick Henry out of the game. Can Coker against the best defense he’s going to face, can he get the job done?
Andrew: Let me throw this stat at you real quick. Alabama has allowed 17 sacks, has gotten 41. Florida, vice versa, has given up 37 sacks this year.
Nick: Yeah. That’s a lot of sacks.
Andrew: That is a crap ton of sacks. Then you’re looking at Florida, they got 38. They’re second behind Alabama with 38. Who gets the sacks? I think the big thing for me is this. I see what you’re saying, score points. Find a way to get points early. Brandon Powell, take one back, who knows? Wilder things have happened. We’ll see what happens there. Tyler Jordan played such a better ballgame at guard last week. Can this offensive line just do enough to get Treon to get the ball out? Florida’s not going to be able to go to 5, 7, step drops in the pocket, because Florida’s offensive line is not good enough there. Are they able to get enough short game?
I think Florida needs to go back to what we call cutting the knees out of the defensive line, and that is you pass block, then you chop, chop them right down. Get that slant off. That way the batted balls aren’t there. Florida needs to go back to doing that, find a way to do that this week, or there will be a lot of batted balls as well. Then, like you said, Alabama’s offensive line only giving up 17 sacks, but have they went up against a defensive line as good as Florida’s?
Nick: No.
Andrew: Exactly. How will they hold up? I will say this. A lot of people have said this as well. This Alabama offensive line is very good against the run, has been shaky against the passing game, and while they’ve only given up 17 sacks they’ve caused Coker to have to escape the pocket more than in years past. That is something that I think Florida can take advantage of this week.
Nick: Yeah. I don’t think, you mentioned that Florida’s offensive line can’t handle 5, 7 step drops against this team. They’re not going to ask them to do that, because that’s not what Treon Harris does well either. I think this is the game where you finally see Florida try to use Treon Harris’s ability to run, whether it’s quarterback draw, spreading Alabama out. Alabama’s been hurt in the past. When you spread you might put four wide receivers and a tight end on the field, and that forces Alabama to spread things out. Opens up the middle of the field a little more. Does Alabama have a player that can spy Treon, kind of like Derwin James did? Maybe. That can kind of shut down the quarterback draw game, but if you’re putting players out and stretching a defense out, that should open up the middle of the field if you want to dial up some of those quarterback draws.
I think you have to unleash Treon, and right now he’s not being used effectively. He’s not being used the way that will make him look the best. We’ve said that all year about this coaching staff. They’re finding what their players do well and putting them in those positions where those skills can shine, except for Treon Harris. It’s kind of like we have this entire offense that was running smoothly with one quarterback. Now we’re putting in another one. His strength is running. We don’t have anything behind him. If he runs and gets hurt then what do we do? Then we’re up the creek without a paddle. But there’s no games after this, so time to take the training wheels off.
Andrew: It’s kind of like what you just said a little bit about Morrison. Reggie Ragland, if there was a struggle for Reggie Ragland, put him on KT, put him on Brandon Powell, one of those guys, and Reggie Ragland is a big hoss like Morrison that struggles in the passing game, struggles in coverage. That’s the mismatch that if Florida can figure out a way to pass block without having those extra guys in the box, then you could go to that five wide, figure out a way. Stand passes, huge this week. Crossing routes, huge this week. Bubble screens, huge this week.
Nick: Get the ball out quickly.
Andrew: Let your playmakers make plays. Here’s the thing. It ain’t going to go for big. Brandon Powell’s not running away from Marlin Humphrey, those guys. It’s going to be a long struggle.
Nick: Dink and dunk and dunk and dink.
Andrew: Everyone talks about long drives being running plays. This may be a game where it’s long drives with 3, 4 yard passing plays.
Nick: You pass the ball and gain 4 yards. Do that three times, and what do you got?
Andrew: You got 12 in my math.
Nick: That’s 1st down.
Andrew: I’m pretty good. Here’s my thing, and this is the one thing that I’ve said all week, and I’ll say it again. Jim McElwain wants to make Nick Saban proud. If there is anything in his playbook, in his mind, that he can do to make his team look decent on offense, I expect it to happen this week. There is no more. You don’t need to hold it back for Ohio State or Notre Dame or Iowa, whoever you’re playing in the Capital One Bowl. Who gives a damn what they think? That game means nothing, except for a paycheck. Find a way to win this game, then go to the Sugar Bowl. Then once again that game means nothing. If you show the game plan, you showed it. Do it again.
Nick: If Florida wins this game Andrew Spivey will sing Pour Some Sugar On Me on an upcoming podcast before the game.
Andrew: I don’t care what I’ll sing. If we do, if we do another podcast about football, not recruiting. Forget it. We will have more podcasts for sure. I will definitely do that, and I will make sure to go on the biggest rant against Alabama. Funny story, this is funny. To go back to the ’08 game. Most people on here that are listening to this podcast know I grew up around all Alabama fans, all Alabama fans. I usually cut my phone off during Alabama/Florida games in most games. I don’t like to hear the trash talk in the middle of the games, because, Nick, you know me. I’m ADD, and I can’t focus. I have to do one or the other. When Florida won in ’08 I literally turned my phone on and had all these text messages from Bama fans talking trash about how they were going to win, so I just called every one of them back and sung We Are The Boys. I think we will sing We Are The Boys if the Gators down the Tide.
Nick: You will also sing Pour Some Sugar On Me. I’ll get you the lyrics. I’ll send those to you.
Andrew: Pour Some Sugar On Me.
Nick: Maybe you won’t.
Andrew: Who knows? You can look mean when you look this clean. That’s how we go.
Nick: Thinking about getting back, before we derailed, you were talking about there’s nothing really to hold back. It’s a question I asked McElwain yesterday that apparently was played on Paul Finebaum’s show. It’s about I got the sense that Mac was trying to make Saban proud, and it’s maybe not beating him. They played Colorado State came down and played at Alabama and got their butts whooped. It may not be about winning. Right now Nick Saban has had years to build Alabama. Jim McElwain was asked about Alabama’s defensive line, the front four, and he said, “It’s about a front 30.” That takes time. That takes time to build. Jim McElwain’s playing cards right now with about half a deck. He doesn’t have his guys in. He hasn’t been able to churn over two recruiting cycles like Saban has at Alabama, even more than two recruiting cycles.
I think I get the sense that McElwain, the most pressure he’s putting on himself is to make sure the Gators compete this week, because he really wants to make somebody in Nick Saban, who McElwain really gives Saban all the credit for why he’s in Gainesville right now. He took a chance on him when he was a coordinator at Fresno State, took a chance on him to bring him to Alabama. Put in a good word for him and helped him get his first head coaching job at Colorado State, which in turn leads here, leads to Gainesville to this matchup. It’s kind of like a mentor/mentee. You want to make your teacher proud, and I get a sense of Jim McElwain feels indebted to Nick Saban, and he doesn’t want to have Florida go out and kind of just roll over on Saturday.
Andrew: The game you’re talking about in Alabama was a 31-6 Bama win. It was in Week 3 of the season. Alabama was basically shut down offensively in the running game. 66 yards rushing was all they had. They had 272 passing in that game. Defensively Mac has his boys ready to go, but here’s the key. Colorado State only had 51 yards rushing and only 228 yards passing. Here’s a number that I want you to see. This is kind of what we were hitting at. Garrett Grayson threw the ball 38 times, 24 completions. He was dinking and dunking down the field as well. Maybe that game plan goes from Colorado State to this weekend. Who knows? 31-6 against Colorado State leads you to believe that he had a pretty good game plan for that game, despite the lack of talent at Colorado State.
Nick: That’s true. The Rams of Colorado State didn’t reach Alabama territory until midway into the 3rd quarter, but, like you said, there was a huge talent.
Andrew: It was only 17-0 at half time.
Nick: Yeah. There was a huge talent discrepancy. I mean, Colorado State scored the first 6 points in the second half. At one point it was 17-6. McElwain, a quote from him from that game was, “We challenged our guys to come in here and go toe to toe.” Colorado State was a gigantic underdog. Florida is the second largest underdog in SEC championship history, and you better believe that Jim McElwain is playing that up to his team this week. Nobody thinks you’re going to go. He’s going to challenge his team to go in there, not wide eyed, not with their mouths open thinking, “We’re playing the best team in the country. Look at those numbers on the side of the helmet. That Crimson sure does look good.”
No. You’re going in. They put their cleats on one foot at a time. They put their socks on one foot at a time. Go toe to toe. Show them that you belong on this field with them, because they don’t think so. The media doesn’t think so, and the fans in the stands. Maybe even some fans in orange and blue don’t think you belong on the same field. Go show all of them that you do.
Did I just motivate you? I felt like a coach there. Maybe a fake Hollywood coach in a movie.
Andrew: Yeah. Fake. It’s all good, Nick. Last year, look at the game. 42-21, Bama wins at home.
Nick: That game was not as close as the score.
Andrew: It wasn’t.
Nick: The score was not very close.
Andrew: It wasn’t. What I was going to say was that was a game that Florida came in played, got whooped. How much of that goes into these guy’s minds for that? How much do they remember that? How much was this defense embarrassed? Over 600 yards of total offense.
Nick: How many yards?
Andrew: Over 600. 449 and 223 is 672 yards was what Alabama had. I believe that was the largest amount of yards given up by Florida since the 90s or something like that. How much does this team remember that? How much does this defense remember that? How much are they pissed off about that? That’s my thing is how much does that go? Vernon Hargreaves is not scared of these guys. Jonathan Bullard’s not scared of these guys. Antonio Morrison, hell, he’s seen worse in his life than this in the streets of Chicago. He’s not scared of this. Being scared of that is nothing. Jim McElwain’s not scared of Nick Saban. The scare tactic’s out. My thing now is find a way to dig deep. Find a way to score points.
Treon, find a way to do this. That’s my biggest thing is Treon’s had so many big games in his life. That’s why last week was such a, I don’t even know what the word is, such a letdown, because he looked like he was scared, and that’s not what Treon Harris has been in the past. He’s been a guy that’s a big game football player. He played in some of the biggest high school games of his life. I say high school, but he played at Neyland Stadium last year. This game shouldn’t be bigger than him. Can he bring that focus back, and how did Mac handle him? That’s one thing Garrett Grayson told us, and Greg McElroy said the same thing. Mac probably coddled him all week, brought his confidence back. Did he get that confidence back? Can he bring that confidence back? I think that’s the biggest question.
Nick: How about this? You talked about those stand passes, those bubble screens, those quick passes to get the ball out of his hand, how about building confidence through that? All week, everywhere he turned all he’s hearing about is how great Alabama is. Even if they’re short, and as a quarterback you know when you’re throwing high percentage passes, but just to see after what’s happened and how the season has gone, just to see the ball hit a receiver’s hands and not hit the turf that’ll start building confidence.
Andrew: To see a ball go in the end zone, in my opinion, would be the biggest thing for this football team since the win over Vanderbilt. It would just be huge to see them score against Alabama. That’s why I say if Florida is able to find a touchdown early.
Nick: What about a Jon Brantley to Andre Dubois classic, like last time Alabama was down in Gainesville? First play of the game hit a big nasty one.
Andrew: That would be huge. That would be there. That’s the thing you get with Treon. You’re going to see some plays, and you’re like, damn, where has that Treon been? Some plays it’s like where did that come from? I hate to say it like this, they say this all the time about Jake Cutler, you need the good Treon Harris to show up on Saturday.
Nick: Yeah. We’ve seen different Treon Harrises. The one we’ve seen specifically the last two weeks is pretty rough. You need him to play well. Can he against the best defense he’ll face all year? That’s a tough question.
Andrew: I’ll say this. I really expect the defense to play really well in this game, especially after those numbers I just told you about. Then Dalvin Cook had a big game against them, and I think that they got pissed off at the way it was rubbed in their face a little bit at the end of the game. I expect the defense to play well. I really do. I know this is sounding cliché when I say this, but if the offense can just give them some help this could be a good ballgame going into the 4th quarter.
Nick: That’d be nice to see.
Andrew: That’d be really nice to see, Nicholas. Be really nice.
Nick: I don’t know if I’ll predict that, but it would be nice to see.
Andrew: You brought it up. Let’s go. Three players for this week. I went 3-0 against FAU, and then you turned it around on me against FSU.
Nick: Had to do it to you.
Andrew: Let’s see what it is. Who goes first this week?
Nick: You do, good sir.
Andrew: I do. Nicholas, I’m going to stab you in the back. You did it to me last week by picking Kelvin Taylor. I’m doing it to you this week. I want the punters are people, Johnny Townsend.
Nick: Have you no honor?
Andrew: In this game there is no friends. When we walk between those lines it’s enemy on enemy. It’s for the better. I had to win the now, Nicholas, and I just won the now. I won the now.
Nick: Punters are people too.
Andrew: I won the now.
Nick: Townsend for Heisman. Also, Johnny Townsend for Holder of the Year. Thank you. Holder of the Year as well. Don’t forget the other half of what he does.
Andrew: He looked like Jon Brantley, by the way, in that video.
Nick: It was the taste of betrayal, and I’m going to try to move past it. One for last week worked out for me, led the team in tackles. Derrick Henry’s coming, so hello linebackers. Antonio Morrison will give it a go. How healthy he is we’ll see. I’m going with his counterpart, Jarrad Davis.
Andrew: Okay. #90 is a man. We know he’s the man. He’s played through all kinds of problems. I’m going Jon Jon Bullard, finally great to see the man in Atlanta getting his praise where he deserves it. Mac talking good about him. This week I think Jon Jon eats somebody’s lunch this week. #90 has a big game and absolutely his last game of regular season ball.
Nick: Yeah. It’s not the regular season anymore.
Andrew: It is regular season ball, outside of bowl games. I call bowl games postseason ball. Outside of bowl games this is the last game.
Nick: It’s not regular season.
Andrew: It is.
Nick: I’m going to go second player, Jalen Tabor.
Andrew: Here we go. He’s going to have a bad day, you picked the guy.
Nick: Jalen Tabor, nobody picked him last week, and he gave up his first career touchdown. He was angry about that touchdown when we talked to him on Monday. I don’t see it happening again, even with Calvin Ridley in front of him. Jalen Tabor, player number two.
Andrew: I think Vernon’s going to be on Calvin Ridley, but we’ll see. I say that, I think they flip them back and forth. We’ll see kind of how that goes. You say Tabor, I’m going to go Callaway. I think Callaway wants to be the big freshman in the league, maybe Callaway is the guy to get some points on the board for the Gators. 81, number three this week.
Nick: Maybe, he’s a talented kid, and maybe there is something to that.
Andrew: Big stage for him.
Nick: It’s a big stage, but maybe there’s something to it in the sense that this other freshman’s getting a lot of hype, this Ridley kid. Maybe a little added motivation for him just as far as a I’m here too.
Andrew: There you go.
Nick: Third player, we’re going no offense. Give me Kiki. I remember when Kiki and el Tractorcito met last year in Tuscaloosa. Brian Denny shook. That was one of the coolest hits I’ve ever seen, and maybe we’ll get another one. Maybe we’ll get another one on one, mano y mano matchup with Kiki meeting Derrick Henry in the hole.
Andrew: There’s not many players that I would take to win that battle, but Kiki might be one that I say can win that battle, because when he hits you he hits you. That’s two Mack trucks hitting each other. It’ll be interesting to see where that goes. Let’s go around the country here a little bit. Let’s talk a few games. Got the big one, Iowa/Michigan State this weekend. Big Ten title on the line. Who you got?
Nick: I don’t know if Iowa’s real, but they’re really good at winning games. That’s what I do know. I like Michigan State. I like Connor Cook. I’m going with the Hawkeyes though. The dream continues, Cinderella. It’s daylight savings time. Cinderella’s got one more hour before that coach turns back into a pumpkin. Give me the Hawkeyes.
Andrew: That is gross. That is gross. That is awful. I’m going Sparty. Sparty this weekend. The Hawkeyes are fake. Big Ten knows they’re fake. They are asking the Big Ten to cancel the championship game, so Sparty on this week is the pick, Nicholas. Let’s go to the ACC, North Carolina and the Tigers of Clemson.
Nick: I just changed my mind, right now. I’m going with the upset.
Andrew: You son of a bitch. I had that too.
Nick: I’m going with the upset. I changed my mind. Upset alert. North Carolina throws a nasty wrench in the college football playoff.
Andrew: Just tell the people real quick. A couple weeks ago you and I had this, we were talking about the playoffs. I was the one taking up for North Carolina, Nicholas. Right or wrong?
Nick: Maybe.
Andrew: Yes. North Carolina wins by a touchdown. 49-42, the Tarheels of Larry Fedora walk out on top, and the Tarheels go to the playoffs. I’m calling it, Nicholas, right there. Now the most patriotic game of all patriotic games, Army/Navy in America Bowl. Who you got?
Nick: I’m going with the midshipmen of Navy. They have got some badass helmets this week. You know me, all about the fashion. I’m going with that triple option attack and Navy to beat Army.
Andrew: I don’t know who Army plays. I don’t even know their record. I know Navy’s pretty good, so I’m going Navy. I know they got that little short guy that is the coach. I think the little short guy will run the triple option and they will be fine with their swagged out Under Armor helmets. I’m going Navy. The short guy, I think his name’s Ken, whatever his name is. That’s about all I know about that. Navy wins and America lives on.
Nick: That games ends quickly. Both teams really like running the football.
Andrew: Really like running. If there’s not a pass thrown in the game I wouldn’t be surprised.
Nick: I would say under 10 passes thrown in the game.
Andrew: Under 10, I’m going to say under 8.
Nick: That’s super low.
Andrew: That’s super low, and I hear you researching this. I know you’re about to come up with some kind of stat to tell me differently.
Nick: We’re looking to see what they did last year. Last year Navy won 17-10. Looking at the box score Navy threw 8 passes on their own. Army threw 7.
Andrew: 15.
Nick: 15 passes.
Andrew: We both suck.
Nick: That’s the line. We’ll set the line at 14.5 passes. I’m going to go over.
Andrew: I’m going under. Under for all the marbles this week.
Nick: There you go.
Andrew: Under for all the marbles this week. Nicholas, put it on the board. Me and you may have to go to SEC Fan Day this weekend and test out the old arms, see what’s up with that. You can be mean when you look this clean.
Nick: Back in high school I used to throw a football a quarter mile.
Andrew: Quarter mile, how far is that?
Nick: That’s one quarter of a mile.
Andrew: How far is that in yards?
Nick: One fourth of a mile.
Andrew: That would be …
Nick: I was told there’d be no math.
Andrew: I have no idea. I’m trying to think, and my brain’s fried after this week.
Nick: It’s a movie quote from Napoleon Dynamite.
Andrew: I’ve never seen the movie. Anyway, whatever. I don’t know, don’t care. We’ll see. We’ll test it out. Championship week has to end, Nicholas. We have to pick it. Put it on the board.
Nick: There are 1,760 yards in a mile. So that would be 440 yards.
Andrew: You’re full of shit. You can’t even hit a golf ball that far, you moron.
Nick: Quarter mile.
Andrew: We have to put it on the board this week. What’s the over/under on this game?
Nick: Florida is a 17 point dog.
Andrew: Instead of picking, let’s go with the over/under this week. I still think we’re going to disagree.
Nick: You’re dropping this on me. We talked about this preshow. Now you got me typing and looking things up.
Andrew: Nicholas, when have I ever done anything right that is the way it’s supposed to go? It just wouldn’t be football season if I did that. I’m asking you right now, Nicholas. 17.5 point favorite.
Nick: Alabama is a 17.5 point favorite, and the over/under is set at 40.
Andrew: 40. Okay.
Nick: That’s about 23 points for Bama.
Andrew: What do you want to go? Do you want to go 17.5, or do you want to pick the over/under?
Nick: We can do both.
Andrew: Okay. Go ahead.
Nick: I am taking the under, and I’m taking Florida getting 17.5 points. I don’t think Alabama covers. I think it’s a much closer game. 17.5 points is a lot. That’s like 24-3.
Andrew: I’m going to also under. Alabama doesn’t cover this week. Florida doesn’t get blown out two weeks in a row. I’m going under as well, and I’m going to go ahead and ask you. What do you say on the over/under? 43, is that what you said? Or 40?
Nick: The over/under is set at 40. I said under. Under 40, and I’m taking Florida getting points.
Andrew: Okay. Then I’m going under 40 as well, and I’m saying Florida covers the spread. That’s what I’m going to go with. I think this is a close ballgame this weekend.
Nick: You’re getting out of having to pick the game, just pick it. No spread, no points.
Andrew: I keep going back and forth on what I want.
Nick: You sneak out of it. If we’re just picking the game, no points, I’m taking the Tide. Who would you take?
Andrew: I don’t know. Every part of me says Alabama wins by 10, but some part of me woke up, I had a dream last night. Let me just say this.
Nick: Oh no.
Andrew: It was 13-10, Florida. 13-10, Florida. Do you want to know how it got to 13-10?
Nick: Sounds like there was a field goal there.
Andrew: No. Florida’s driving. It’s 10-7. Florida’s driving. Treon hits Callaway on a slant, touchdown. He breaks a tackle, touchdown. It’s 13-10, Hardin has a PAT blocked.
Nick: That sounds about right.
Andrew: It’s 13-10, Gators win, and they go to the Sugar Bowl. Sometimes dreams don’t always work on, so I would say Bama wins, but I got out of it, because I didn’t have to pick it.
Nick: Now it’s all out there.
Andrew: I never said which one I was going to pick. If Florida wins 13-10, I’m the goat. If Florida loses, I’m the goat as well. Shit just happens. It rolls that way, Nicholas.
Nick: You’re just always the goat.
Andrew: That’s right. I’m glad you admit that. I’m proud of you, Nick. I think we’ve come a long way this season. To say that, it has been a good season, for real. It does come to an end on Saturday for the SEC championship. It has been fun, been really fun to cover Mac this year. This team’s been really fun to cover, and I’m glad you guys have been along with us. Recruiting’s about to heat up, and it’s going to be wild.
Nick: Recruiting is going to be crazy.
Andrew: Mayhem.
Nick: It’s crazy right now, and signing day is still a couple months away. It will be heated.
Andrew: Heated is the word. Nicholas, tell the boys where they can find us. Let’s get out of here. Hotlanta’s calling the name. If you guys remember, if you guys are in town in Hotlanta, hit us up. We’ll be around. Coverage will coming hot and cold all day long. It’s going to be freezing in Hotlanta, but Nick and I will be there and ready to go.
Nick: Like Andrew said, you can find us in Atlanta this weekend. I’m going to Vortex Burger, saw that last night. That’s absolutely happening. Getting a burger with peanut butter and bananas on it. How about that? If you want to find us before then, it is NickdelaTorreGC on the Twitter machine, AndrewSpiveyGC on the Twitter Machine, GatorCountry on the Twitter machine. TheGatorCountry, don’t forget the the, on Instagram. Www.GatorCountry.com all your Gator news stories, info, ‘cruiting stuff. Let us know if you’re in Atlanta. We’ll be out Friday night and maybe Saturday night.
Andrew: We shall see. Hotlanta is the best city in America. Butch, and now Mark again, you both suck. As always, go Braves. Chomp, chomp.
Nick: You stay classy, Gator Country.
We were pounding FSU on the ground with Taylor, why did we go away from that in the two biggest plays of the game?
1) 4th and 2, 1st quarter, instead of FG try or Kelvin Taylor run we have a low snap and sack. Turnover on downs.
2) 3rd and 4 inside the 5 yard line, 4th qtr down by 10, we call a pass play and Treon is called for grounding.
We need to be putting the ball in our BEST player’s hand. KELVIN TAYLOR