Even with his status for the SEC Championship Game in doubt, Florida junior wide receiver/running back Percy Harvin was still on both coaches’ minds seven days before No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Florida take to the artificial turf inside the Georgia Dome.
“He’s questionable for the game,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said about Harvin, who suffered a high right ankle sprain during the second quarter of Florida’s 45-15 victory over Florida State Saturday on a wet and slick turf at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Harvin, who entered Saturday’s game as Florida’s leading receiver and rusher, injured the ankle after taking a direct snap from center as the Gators were driving to a second-quarter touchdown. It didn’t appear that Harvin had reinjured the heel on his right foot which underwent surgery earlier this year.
Nevertheless, Meyer and the 11-1 Gators, winners of eight straight, will prepare to face the 12-0 Crimson Tide without Harvin.
“It’s going to be day-to-day,” Meyer continued. “He certainly won’t practice the first couple of days. But he’s here (at the football complex) today and moving around a little bit, so we’ll see what happens.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban feels the Gators hardly will miss a beat considering all the talented players and Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow having a hand in Florida’s explosive offense, which has scored 414 points in the eight victories and 556 overall in 12 games.
“We certainly respect his ability,” Saban said. “They have three players that, you know (Nos.) 1 (Harvin), 2 (Jeffrey Demps) and 3 (Chris Rainey), it’s easy to remember. All (of them) outstanding players with big playability. They’ve got some outstanding receivers. They’ve got a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. And they utilize all those players in different roles. Certainly we respect Percy Harvin as a great player, but they have other great players, too.”
If Harvin is unable to go, Meyer will turn to another junior with speed – punt returner Brandon James – and others.
“We’ve got Brandon James, also Louis Murphy,” Meyer said. “David Nelson is playing well for us. He had a good game against Florida State. So if we moved Murphy inside, we’d have Carl Moore on the outside. And Deonte Thompson is another weapon that we have. We’ve thought about this and had to play through it a couple of times before. Also, in the perimeter run game, we have Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. So we have a plan. I just hope (Percy’s) ready.”
One thing that both teams have in common is an ability to grab the momentum early on their opponents. During its eight-game winning streak, the Gators have outscored their opposition 136-3 (it’s 160-10 over the 12-game season). Alabama has outscored its 12 opponents 123-20 in the first 15 minutes.
“A fast start is going to be a critical part,” Meyer said, “but it’s not the only part. We have to keep in mind that two years ago we played Arkansas and we jumped all of them in the first half, but they came back to take the lead in the second half. It’s a 60-minute game, however momentum shifts occur. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Saban agreed.
“We’ve gotten ahead in some games and teams have come back on us,” Saban said. “We’ve gotten ahead in some games and been able to maintain that lead. You know, obviously, you want to start well in everything that you do. But I think the most important thing is to be able to sustain a certain level of consistency throughout the game.”
Consistency has been Alabama’s trademark this season. The offense has put up 40 or more points only three times – against Western Kentucky, Arkansas and Georgia in September. They’ve won two games by shutouts – 35-0 over Arkansas State and 36-0 over Auburn last Saturday. They’ve won the close games, too – 17-14 over Kentucky and 27-21 in overtime at Louisiana State Nov. 8, the Saturday after they moved into the No. 1 spot in the BCS rankings.
Alabama just won, baby, which is probably why most of the focus during November has been on the surging Gators and the Big 12 South race between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
The Crimson Tide may just be the Rodney Dangerfield of college football.
“Florida has played well and they’ve scored a lot of points,” Saban noted. “(They) haven’t even had a close game other than the Ole Miss game. They’ve been a dominant team, and they certainly deserve all the accolades that they get because they’ve played extremely well all season long. I think we have enough motivation in terms of the opportunity that we have and what’s out there, you know, for our team. You know that’s how we always look at it.”