the Battle for the S.E.C.
Around three quarters of the way through the 2008 season, I wrote an email entitled "The Battle for the S.E.C." In it, I lined out what I thought was a likely scenario. That scenario was that Alabama and Florida were going to meet in the SEC Championship for Game 1 out of a possible 4-6 game matchup over a four year period, with the three possible outcomes being, 1. Florida beats Alabama and retains their stranglehold over the SEC; 2. Alabama beats Florida taking back the SEC from the usurper of '91; 3, There would be a relative split between the two schools and we would be treated to an intense rivalry more the equivalent of the Dallas Cowboys - San Francisco 49ers rivalry of the 1990s.
The results so far:
Game 1 - Florida survives a fierce attack by the Tide by dominating the 4th quarter. They win game 1 and go on to win the National Title.
Game 2 - Alabama, plotting their revenge all season, decimates the Gators's hopes at their first undefeated season and wins big and with relative ease. Likewise, they go on and win the National Title.
Game 3 - A young Gator team is trounced in Bryant Denny. At this point, the Tide had taken a clear advantage and it looks like we are going with outcome #2.
Then a funny thing happened. Any hope for a rematch in the SEC Championship game went horribly wrong. Somehow someone forgot to inform South Carolina and Auburn that they weren't a part of the conversation for SEC dominance. Neither Alabama nor Florida made it to Atlanta. The offseason resulted in Urban Meyer calling it quits . . . again and this time for good. So instead of Game 4 taking place in December of 2010, we get to . . .
Game 4 - This one has turned out a lot more interesting than it looked to be at the start of the season. Alabama is #2 or #3 depending on which way the wind blows. Their defense looks to be as good as the 2009 defense. Florida has been surprising. They are undefeated and have looked better than I would have thought they would. Florida didn't change just a coach, they changed their whole offensive and defensive philosophies. Just changing one of those things can give you five losses in a season, changing both could result in eating popcorn and watching television during the Bowl season. Obviously September was not a tough month for the Gators but they seem to be rolling with the changes. Add to that, Florida's new head man who is a disciple of Alabama's Saban. Florida, fields a very talented defense and is going to be running similar disguised blitz packages much like Alabama. Alabama is fielding a brand new, fairly inexperienced quarterback who is prone to make mistakes when pressured. Alabama's strategy is simple, run Trent Richardson right at Florida and dare Florida to stop Richardson. Mix in some high percentage short yardage passes to keep Florida from blitzing every down.
Alabama is favored by 4 but it's in Gainesvile. Truth is, Gainesville hasn't been too bad for the Tide. Alabama and Florida first met in Gainesville in 1935 and Florida didn't pull off their first victory in Gainesville until 1991. The 1991 game was quite a game. Florida throttled Alabama to the tune of 35-0 and gave Alabama it's worse loss in at least 40 years. Florida had announced in very loud tones that the SEC wasn't Alabama's conference anymore. Though no one expects it, imagine, just for a second, that Florida pulls off another 35-0 style victory this Saturday. It would be '91 all over again. Florida doesn't need to beat the Tide by 35 though. A simple victory lets the college football world know that Florida isn't dead yet and that they are still very much a part of the "Battle for the SEC."
No comments:
Post a Comment