Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
The No. 1 Florida Gators and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide will meet in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, December 5th for the second year in a row. A win for either team means a birth in the BCS National Championship Game. To put it simply, this game is HUGE. Winning an SEC Title is every Gators goal when starting the season. The Gators are favorites but they'll have their work cut out for them against Bama's tough defense.
You'd think that with the No. 1 team playing the No. 2 team this late in the season that this game should be considered a National Title game. However, there is a team out west call Texas that still wants their shot.. darn. I have a feeling that the SECCG will go down a lot similar to last year's. In case you forgot the 2008 SECCG, here's how it went down:
<blockquote>Trailing by three points entering the final period, the Gators used a strong fourth quarter to claim their eighth SEC title. Tim Tebow was 14-for-22 for 216 yards and three touchdowns and UF rushed for 136 yards against a Crimson Tide defense wihich had yielded 73.6 yards per game. Riley Cooper had a fiveyard TD reception to give Florida a 31-20 lead and Joe Haden had an interception with 1:30 remaining to seal the victory.</blockquote>
The Florida Gators will be without star defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who was arrested on DUI charges. He is the Gator's leading pass rusher and disrupter in the backfield. It will be hard to replace him. Without Dunlap, I think the Crimson Tide will be able to move the ball on the Gators - at least in the first half. The Gators should be able to keep up though. Don't be surprised if the Gators are down by 3 or so at halftime. Urban Meyer is the best big game coach in the country and will make adjustments.
Bama has a good running back in Ingram - he is dinged up a bit with a hip pointer, but he will play. The key for Gator success is to stop the Alabama rushing attack and force their QB McElroy to pass. The Gator cornerbacks are too good and will create turnovers.
On offense, the Gators need to keep things balanced. They can't get caught up in run Tebow, run Tebow, run Tebow. They need to spread the ball around to all the playmakers: Demps, Rainey, Hernandez, and Cooper. The Gators don't need to score 30 points to win this game. If they play smart and don't turn the ball over then victory is theirs.
I predict a final score of 28-17 Gators.
You'd think that with the No. 1 team playing the No. 2 team this late in the season that this game should be considered a National Title game. However, there is a team out west call Texas that still wants their shot.. darn. I have a feeling that the SECCG will go down a lot similar to last year's. In case you forgot the 2008 SECCG, here's how it went down:
<blockquote>Trailing by three points entering the final period, the Gators used a strong fourth quarter to claim their eighth SEC title. Tim Tebow was 14-for-22 for 216 yards and three touchdowns and UF rushed for 136 yards against a Crimson Tide defense wihich had yielded 73.6 yards per game. Riley Cooper had a fiveyard TD reception to give Florida a 31-20 lead and Joe Haden had an interception with 1:30 remaining to seal the victory.</blockquote>
The Florida Gators will be without star defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who was arrested on DUI charges. He is the Gator's leading pass rusher and disrupter in the backfield. It will be hard to replace him. Without Dunlap, I think the Crimson Tide will be able to move the ball on the Gators - at least in the first half. The Gators should be able to keep up though. Don't be surprised if the Gators are down by 3 or so at halftime. Urban Meyer is the best big game coach in the country and will make adjustments.
Bama has a good running back in Ingram - he is dinged up a bit with a hip pointer, but he will play. The key for Gator success is to stop the Alabama rushing attack and force their QB McElroy to pass. The Gator cornerbacks are too good and will create turnovers.
On offense, the Gators need to keep things balanced. They can't get caught up in run Tebow, run Tebow, run Tebow. They need to spread the ball around to all the playmakers: Demps, Rainey, Hernandez, and Cooper. The Gators don't need to score 30 points to win this game. If they play smart and don't turn the ball over then victory is theirs.
I predict a final score of 28-17 Gators.
