Gameday

The Stovall Household

Jeff: 850-339-5279

Francoise: 703-727-6629

Saturday, December 4, 2009 @ 4:00 EST

Florida (1)

Alabama (2)

———

Well, here go. Alabama vs. Florida, the rematch. I know that I often indulge in hyperbole when writing these things, but this is truly one of the biggest games of the last ten years. Since the advent of the BCS, we’ve argued and angsted over whether a system granting certain conferences automatic bids and making determinations based on number-crunching was really valid.

While I believe that most years it is not, this year is the exception. Florida is, without doubt, now a dynasty, and more power to them. Urban Meyer has built a program that takes a no-nonsense approach to the season. With Tim Tebow as the pillar, they haven’t lost a game in two seasons (I believe that’s correct). In three years, Nick Saban has built a team at Alabama that has made repeated runs at the national championship. There’s really no doubt that these are the two best college football programs in the country right now.

Saturday’s game is also one of the most anticipated rematches in years. Coming off of a nerve-racking win against Auburn, the expectations are that Saban will have the Tide passionate, crisp and fully healthy. And that last point is significant–Mark Ingram took a hip pointer in the Auburn game (if someone can explain what the hell a “hip pointer” is without making me want to yack, please do so), Colin Peek only returned to play two weeks ago, and Arenas has been in and out all season with niggling injuries. The big question mark, as has been the case all year, is McElroy’s performance at quarterback: Can he maintain the cool head and focus which allowed him to drive the offense down the field against Auburn last week for the win?

What people are saying:

• How does Alabama match up with Florida?
• Mark Ingram has one more chance
• Alabama, Florida meet in a rematch for the ages
• Alabama’s close call at Auburn a positive heading into SEC title game

Line: FL by 5.5

O/U: 41

What you should know to enjoy the game*:

• There’s a lot of people around the nation calling this game for Florida. While that’s understandable, given their overwhelming dominance for two seasons and Alabama’s two close calls against Tennessee and Auburn, it’s a false comparison. Alabama played five ranked opponents in their regular season. Florida? One: LSU. And it was a tough game. Look at not only how Florida plays for a championship, but also how they play against their second ranked opponent.
• You knew it was coming: Mark Ingram. Auburn shut him down last week, allowing just 30 yards, in stark contrast to the South Carolina game where he was 300+. The Heisman frontrunner for three weeks, his stock has declined precipitously, but a big game against Florida and he McCoy are suddenly the only two in the race.
• Alabama’s depth will be one of two factors in winning this game. Last week, when Auburn had Ingram’s number, McElroy went to Richardson. Then he went to Peek. Big playmakers Maze and Hanks can both single-handily change the entire nature of a game–in one play. Florida doesn’t have that sort of offensive depth, even if their premiere players are better than Alabama’s.
• The other game-changing factor here is special teams. Arenas is possibly the best punt returner in the nation right now, having shattered multiple school and conference records for both numbers of punts returned and yardage. The senior kicker, Leigh Tiffin, has hit 3-pointers from beyond the 50 and maintains a solid 27 for 31. Alabama’s special teams weakness is punt-return coverage, which, unfortunately, is where Florida shines. Watch to see if Florida is able to leverage that advantage to any result.

*Hey, check it out…I didn’t mention Tebow once in that!

Expected weather:

Lo: 26°F
Hi: 40°F
Precip: 40%

Featured Beer:

TBD, sorry.