This past weekend, Florida hosted Alabama in one of the most highly-anticipated matchups to date in this young, College Football season. 12 hosting 3. Two undefeated SEC teams. Great game right? Not so much. Florida got their teeth kicked in this weekend by a team that looked beyond superior to them. Florida scored on the first play of the game with a 65 yard touchdown strike from Brantley to Debose, but their success would end there. Trent Richardson and Co. looked like grown men playing against a bunch of children for the remaining 59 minutes of the game. Florida, who had been averaging a silly 259 yards rushing per game, was held to an embarrassing 18 yards on 25 carries. T-Rich surpassed that total on his 3rd carry. After a 10-10 tie going into the second quarter, the Crimson Tide came out and completely defined "putting a team away". Alabama outscored the Gators 24-0 from there on out and in the second half, held them to just 61 yards of offense and a laughable 2 first downs, one coming via penalty.
What we learned about Florida: They are NOT EVEN CLOSE to as good as advertised. I have never been a fan of preseason rankings, and I will save that topic for another day, but they are the reason that this matchup was highly anticipated. I had a good feeling that Florida would get slaughtered in this game. Why? Because Florida's schedule leading up to this game was as soft as Play Doh. In Week 1, Florida beat Florida Atlantic 41-3. Impressive? Not really. FAU is an 0-4 Sun Belt team that has allowed at least 30 points in every game this season. In Week 2, Florida had a 39 point win over UAB in the Swamp. Impressive right? Negative. Tulane had a 39 point road win vs. UAB, who is also 0-4 and is rated lower than 60 FCS teams in the Sagarin Football Ratings. In Week 3, Florida hosted long-time SEC rival Tennessee and came away with a 33-23 victory. Impressive? Barely. Tennessee is currently 3-1 and QB Tyler Bray has wowed me so far this year, but I can't help but yawn at their victories. Cincinnati is decent, but a win over Buffalo and FCS opponent Montana means nothing to me. In Week 4, Florida beat up on Kentucky on the road 48-10. Common Trend: that still means nothing to me. Kentucky lost their best playmaker, Randall Cobb, to the NFL (if you have not seen his Week 1 Kick Return vs. the Packers, I suggest you do so) and they had a hard time beating Western Kentucky and Central Michigan, who would struggle against elite Pop Warner teams. Their QB, Morgan Newton, has looked more flustered than Harry from Dumb and Dumber when he was asked to go skiing with Mary Swanson.
Dumb and Dumber Video
Projection: Florida's schedule doesn't exactly get easier either: They play #1 LSU this weekend in Death Valley without their quarterback, followed by #15 Auburn on the road. #18 South Carolina, #23 Florida State, and Georgia are among some other games they play down the road. Depending on the health of Brantley, I think Florida will fight to win 8 or possibly 9 games this year, but anything more than that seems unrealistic to me.
What we learned about Alabama: They are not as good as advertised, they are better. They have a lot of qualities that are common with successful teams: They have a heisman-caliber running back in Trent Richardson and a very solid number 2 option in Eddie Lacy (hmm sounds a lot like their last 2 seasons). They returned 4 starters, 2 of whom are All-Americans, on the offensive line and their new starter has made starts in his career as well. Their defense is just downright filthy. They are giving up less than 9 points a game and under 200 yards of offense. They have All-Americans all over the field and no one has or will be able to run the football on them. Their defensive backs are very talented and experienced and there isn't a weakness in their secondary. They score non-offensive touchdowns (3 in the last 2 games) and their QB, A.J McCarron, has showed great poise and decision making. His first 2 career road starts: at Happy Valley and at The Swamp, which are among the toughest venues in all of college football. Most important stat: 0 interceptions.
Projection: Alabama has already beaten 3 Top 25 opponents and Arkansas showed their true colors this weekend, erasing an 18 point lead to come back and beat Texas A&M. Alabama's remaining schedule is actually pretty forgiving, considering being in the SEC east. They only have 2 ranked opponents left and still have 4 home games remaining. Bama hosts #2 LSU on November 5th and both teams will have a bye week heading into this game. Both teams are nearly identical to each other, but I think Bama is a little bit better in all aspects of the game and, with the help of a 100,000+ screaming fans, will survive that game against the Tigers. Alabama ends the season with the Iron Bowl, this year traveling on the road to face #15 Auburn. Auburn had a miraculous comeback win vs. Utah State and, even know the score doesn't show it, got beat up by Clemson. Auburn still has some tough games left and after a few more losses, their game against Alabama won't be quite as meaningful. The winner of this game has won the last 3 National Championships and I think Alabama has a great chance to make it 4 after they come out of Jordan-Hare Stadium with a dub.
"I'm known as a recruiter. Well you've got to have chicken to make chicken salad." -Bear Bryant
And here's to you noners that haven't seen Randall's TD yet.
-G Money
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