Tide and Gators for the SEC title in a meeting of traditional SEC foes
Can the Gators overcome their defensive woes to stem the Tide?
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
Having maneuvered one of the trickiest college football seasons in history, the SEC has two teams left standing...one team was expected, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and one team was thought to have a solid chance to get here, the Florida Gators. In a way, it’s a total celebration of the grit of the conference and the college football world, as a mere five months ago, it looked like there would be no fall season at all. As the top two teams vie for the title, let the celebration begin!
The title tilt appeared to lose some luster when the Dan Mullen led Gators were upset by LSU last weekend, yet the contest regained steam on Tuesday evening as the College Football committee only dropped the Gators one spot, from #6 to #7, keeping Florida within striking distance of making the college football playoff. Many say that even if the Tide gets upset in the title game, they will still make the playoff, and I agree...just don’t tell Coach Saban, as such a thought firmly goes against the legendary coach’s process. In addition, the chance to play for championships is a reason top-notch athletes enroll at schools like Alabama and Florida. Despite the present line in favor of Alabama at 17.5 points, I expect a good contest.
Even with the LSU loss, It’s an intriguing matchup. Common opponents for the two teams include:
Ole Miss…51-35 Gator win, 63-48 Tide win
Texas A&M…41-38 Gator loss, 52-24 Tide win
Missouri...41-17 Gator win, 38-19 Tide win
Georgia…44-28 Gator win, 41-24 Tide win
Arkansas…63-35 Gator win, 52-3 Tide win
Kentucky…34-10 Gator win, 63-3 Tide win
Tennessee…31-19 Gator win, 48-17 Tide win
LSU...37-34 Gator loss, 55-17 Tide win
The matchup to watch is the experienced Gator offense against the Tide defense. The Gators sit 3rd in the conference, averaging 514 yards per game and 41 points per contest. Senior Quarterback Kyle Trask’s monster season is well documented, as he ranks first in the nation in total yards (3,717) and touchdowns thrown (40, against only 5 interceptions), and is completing 70.2% of his passes. Even though Trask threw for over 400 yards in last week’s loss to LSU, his Heisman campaign took a hit as he threw two interceptions (one a pick-six) and fumbled once. The SEC title game is a perfect stage to regain Heisman momentum, especially with one of the top receiving corps in the country to throw to. Match-up nightmare tight end Kyle Pitts leads the pack, and despite missing two games due to injury, the junior pass catcher has accumulated 641 total yards and 11 touchdowns. Not to be outdone, senior wide receivers Kadarius Toney (831 yards, 9 touchdowns), Trevon Grimes (511, 8), and sophomore Jacob Copeland (429, 3) have had tremendous seasons as well, giving Trask a bevy of capable options. The running game, however, has been inconsistent and has produced an average of 127 yards per game. The offensive line has been inconsistent as well, although they do a nice job of pass-blocking for Trask, giving him enough time to get the ball downfield. Junior back Dameon Pierce leads the way on the ground with 441 yards and 3 touchdowns. Junior kicker Evan McPherson has connected on 14 of 18 field goals, with a long of 55. Senior Jacob Finn has had a nice season, averaging 46 yards per punt.
The Alabama defense that will be tasked with stopping the potent Gators has continued to improve throughout the season and has climbed to #3 in the conference. The Tide is giving up 340 yards per game and 16.8 points per game. The front seven, led by sophomore Christian Baramore, sophomore DJ Dale, junior Phidarian Mathis, and freshman linebacker Will Anderson are getting a steady push and as of late, are finding themselves far in opponents' backfields. Linebackers Christian Harris (sophomore) and senior Dylan Moses lead the team in tackles (65 and 62 total, respectively) and have played consistently and steadily throughout the 2020 campaign. Harris suffered a shoulder injury at the start of last week’s victory over Arkansas and is day to day. With or without Harris, the front seven will be a key in getting pressure on Trask to disrupt the powerful Gator passing attack. The Bama secondary has emerged as difference makers, as they have started to make more consistent plays on the ball and all are solid tacklers. Juniors Patrick Surtain, Josh Jobe, Daniel Wright, sophomores Jordan Battle and Demarcco Hellams, and freshman emerging star Brian Branch lead the way and will need to have great nights on Saturday against the Gators talented receiving corps.
Photo: Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images
The Tide will need big performances out of DBs like Patrick Surtain II.
On the other side of the ball, the matchup between the Bama offense and the Gator defense on paper appears to be a mismatch. However, anything can happen as we saw last weekend in Gainesville. Florida’s defense ranks 5th overall in the conference, yielding 384 yards per game and 26.3 points. The unit, led by linebackers Ventrell Miller and Mohamaud Diabate, leads the conference in sacks per game, averaging 3.1. There have been questions about their defensive line and their secondary, yet there is talent and potential. Nothing more needs to be said about defensive back Marco Wilson’s LSU shoe incident, and the junior is overall having a good season, recording 21 tackles and 4 pass deflections.
Miller, Diabate, Wilson and company will be called upon to play their very best on Saturday night, as Bama’s offense continues to roll. It is currently the conference’s 2nd rated offensive unit, averaging 537 yards per game and 50 points per game. Heisman front-running quarterback Mac “Daddy” Jones, like Trask, is having a terrific season, throwing for 3,321 yards and 27 touchdowns against 3 interceptions, completing 76.4% of his passes. Right up there with Jones in the Heisman race is senior wideout DeVonta Smith, who has amassed 1,327 yards and 15 touchdown grabs. In addition, Smith is a dangerous punt returner as showcased last week against Arkansas, bringing a punt back 84 yards for six. Fellow pass-catchers John Metchie III, Miller Forrestall, and Jahleel Billingsley as well as backs Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. give Jones as many options as Trask has. Unlike Florida, however, the Tide boast the nation’s top offensive line and their running game, led by seniors Harris (1,084 yards and an astounding 22 touchdowns) and Robinson (385 yards, 6 TDs) has been extremely effective, taking pressure off of Jones by producing 190 rushing yards per game. Sophomore kicker Will Reichard has given the Tide an effective and dangerous option, as the kicker has nailed all 11 of his field-goal attempts, logging a long of 52 yards. Senior punter Charlie Scott, #85 from Colorado, is averaging 34 yards per boot.
Ultimately, both teams will be focused and Alabama will get Florida’s best shot. Neither team makes a ton of errors (Florida has turned the ball over a total of 14 times, Alabama has only 10 turnovers this season), and I am expecting a clean game. The contest will come down to which defense can stop, or slow down, the other’s offense more consistently. With the lack of a consistent rushing attack from Florida, Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding will be able to play around with his linebackers and secondary, varying coverages and dropping up to eight in a way that will slow down, even for a few drives, the Florida passing game. Based on the last few weeks, Alabama’s defense is playing well and has a better shot at getting a few more stops. Florida will score...but Jones and company score more and will pull away late to secure their 28th SEC title and will enter the playoffs as the #1 seed.
Alabama 45
Florida 31