I wrote this article about nine months ago. Little did I realize that instead of being a game in the heart of "The Battle for the SEC" it would be the final game in the battle that pitted Nick Saban's Tide against Urban Meyer's Gators. Included in the body are the previous articles that made up this series. As a bit of a hindsighted post script, it should be noted that "The Battle for the SEC" ended that night and in reality ended with Alabama's victory over the Gators in 2009. That's not to say that Alabama won the SEC. Far from it. The 2010 SEC Championship Game featured Auburn and South Carolina. Florida would suffer a humiliating Ron Zookesque season and Alabama would lose to both East and West participants in the regular season along with new found rival LSU. The loss to Auburn was particularly humiliating for the Tide in that they gave up a 24 point lead at home to the eventual 2010 Southeastern Conference and National Champions. Though it would be downright foolish to think that Alabama and Florida's SEC dominance is over it would be equally foolish to think that Florida and Alabama are the only two SEC teams that will dominate. As we are closing in on the 2011 season, there are a host of teams in the SEC that have realistic chances to be dominate teams in the upcoming years.
Two and a half years ago, I preached that Florida's reign of total domination of the SEC would start to be shared with the Crimson Tide. Last year, I sent an email pointing out that from 2008 to 2011, Alabama and Florida would face each other at least four times and possibly as much as six times. I decided to call these games "The Battle for the SEC." Florida won the first match and Alabama won the second. Game 3 is here. Alabama is a nine point favorite and the game is in Tuscaloosa. For Florida to win, it would be the equivalent of breaking serve. Florida would take a 2-1 lead with the next scheduled game next year in Gainesville with Alabama struggling to replace much of its offense. Of course there is also a possibility of another matchup this year in Atlanta. Let's take a look at the recent history of the series.
I have picked 1998 for one main reason. 1998 was the first year in which Alabama and Florida played after the great Spurrier/Stallings rivalry ended. Florida was highly successful against the Tide in the early to mid 1990s rivalry with Florida notching up a 5-1 record during a seven year period. At 5-1 it may not have seemed like much of a rivalry but it featured a period where other than Tennessee's SEC championship in 1990, Alabama and Florida would account for all others during that period, (Bama's only in '92). Each team won a National Championship. 1996 Featured a Heisman Winner. In both 1992 and 1994, Alabama would enter the game undefeated. Eras end though and in 1998 Stallings was gone and though no one knew it, Spurrier's era as the Gator's Head Ball Coach was also nearing its end.
Going back to 1998, Alabama is surprisingly 4-3 against the Gators. Alabama has never been favored in any of those seven matchups. In at least two and possibly three of those games in which Florida lost, Florida was favored by at least a touchdown. In three of those losses, Florida was simply pummeled. 1999 (34-7); 2005 (31-3); 2009 (32-13). Shockingly, even though the Florida coaches in those losses were Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer, other than last year's victory in which Saban was the coach, the '99 and '05 drummings came at the hands of such "great" Alabama coaches as Mike Dubose and Mike Shula.
The series from 1998.
Spurrier snuck a close win in '98 in Tuscaloosa but would drop two in a row against the Tide in '99, one being the overtime win in Gainesville and the other being the 34-7 drumming the Gators took in Atlanta. Then came Urban Meyer. The worst loss in the Urban Meyer era came from an early trip to Tuscaloosa in 2005 in which Florida was throttled 31-3. The next year, in Gainesville, Bama, as was typical in the Shula era, managed to snatch defeat from the Jaws of Victory. Florida owned the fourth quarter and all was right again in the Urban Meyer/Florida Gator world.
Enter the Saban era, the next meeting between Alabama and Florida came in December of 2008 in Atlanta and was our first "Battle for the SEC" game. There was conversation as to whether this Florida Gator team might be one of the greatest college football teams of all time. Since losing to Ole Miss earlier in the season, the Gators had managed to beat their opponents by an average of over 28 points. These "cupcakes" included LSU, preseason #1 Georgia, and of course Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks.
Though all the hype was about Florida, Alabama was a bit of a Cinderella team that year. They were undefeated in December and ranked #1 in the Nation when they faced the Gators but this wasn't anyone's preseason expectation. The year before they had finished the season 7-6 and had crashed in the latter half of the season. Their first game of the season was against #9 ranked Clemson. Clemson walked in as the favorite but was simply blasted throughout the game. Bama had arrived. Alabama's m.o. during 2008 was that they could take any team in the first three quarters but as if it was a carry over from the Shula era, the fourth quarter was their weakest. This flaw would prove fatal in Atlanta.
Game 1:
For the first three quarters, Bama had put Florida on their heels. Everything that Florida hadn't dealt with since the loss to Ole Miss was happening all over again. Just when things were looking dark, the poster child for college football rallied his troops. Honestly, if you put it in a script it would seem hokey yet it's exactly how it happened. We watched as we saw Tim Tebow addressing the receivers. We watched as Tebow placed passes in the perfect spots where only his receivers could cover and we watched as Alabama went from victory to a double digit loss by the time the clock hit triple zero's and as if this didn't seem scripted enough, it was a crying Tim Tebow earlier that year after the humbling loss to Ole Miss who made a promise to the Gator Nation. On 9/27/2008 Tebow promised that no team would play harder than the Gators and that no player would play harder than he for the rest of that year. He kept his promise and Bama was simply another victim cast to the side.
Game 2:
Again, Alabama was undefeated coming into the game but for the first time, Florida was undefeated and this time they were ranked #1. Florida had won three National Championships but all three came as one loss teams. Florida's goal in 2009 was to not only repeat as National Champion but to do what no other Florida team had ever done, finish the season undefeated. Alabama's season goal was less lofty but it would prove to be Florida's undoing. Alabama finished 2008 by losing to Florida and being humiliated by non-BCS conference Utah. After that loss the team met and made a pledge that they would get back to Atlanta for the sole purpose of meeting again with Florida and finish Florida off while Tim Tebow was still there. They felt that they should have won 2008 but that they gave the game away. All season Bama prepared for Florida. They studied Florida. They watched what the Gators did. They watched how Florida responded to this defensive scheme or that one. When would Tebow try to run? When would Tebow dump a shovel pass? Particularly this was all studied by Rolando McLain. By game time, the Alabama defense knew the Florida offense almost as well as Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow.
The first quarter was tight. Florida managed only a field goal and Bama managed a field goal and a touchdown but missed the extra point. Near the end of the half, Florida was down by nine. A Florida field goal would cut Bama's lead down to six points and the half time score was 19-13. This was it by the way, Florida wouldn't score another point. Bama's D shut down the Florida O and probably more unexpectedly, Alabama gashed Florida's once stout run defense for over 200 yards. Ingram probably sealed his fate as the Heisman winner based on his game against the Gators. (See the link below for a more detailed description of the game).
Game 3.
Urban Meyer and Nick Saban have split their games against each other. On the surface this game seems anti-climatic to the two previous matchups. Bama's offense is virtually intact while Florida's great offense from the past two years is gone. This isn't a 1 vs 2 matchup for all the marbles but is a "first Saturday in October" game. Don't be fooled. Just because this game lacks the hype of the prior two it is equally as important. Let's think about how 2009 ended. Not only did Florida's goal of winning a National Title end along with dreams of an undefeated season but Meyer was put into a hospital after the game. He "retired" (for about a day). If you think Florida isn't going to bring the same intensity to this game that Alabama did last December then you are fooling yourself. Meyer does not want to have a losing record to Alabama which would be a result of the loss. Both teams are undefeated. Alabama is coming off a mistake-filled game in which they barely escaped and for the first time, Florida looks like they are starting to put their offensive pieces in place. Just like Bama wanted to specifically shut down Tebow in 2009, Florida would love the opportunity to shut down Ingram in '10. As mentioned above, this is the first time that these two will be playing in almost two decades in which Alabama is the favorite. Florida walks into Tuscaloosa in the unfamiliar yet comfortable position as the underdog. Urban Meyer isn't facing the 2009 Alabama defense but the 2010 defense that lacks Rolando McLain and an experienced secondary, a defense that makes mistakes on assignments, and is replacing nine of eleven starters. Imagine what a Florida victory does. It automatically shoots Florida to the top of the SEC again with Bama hoping against hope it can make it to Atlanta for the rematch. With Auburn looking so impressive and LSU's defense looking stout, that's not a guarantee. It also puts Florida back in the driver seat for the Battle of the SEC as they will surely be the favorite in Gainesville next year.
If you have managed to read this year's thesis on "The Battle for the SEC" then you may also enjoy such previous emails as:
"Ali vs. Frazier" written 12/03/2008.
I know every team that has played Florida has thought the same thing which is that, "this game is going to be closer than it looks." I really do think that this game will. I think because the way the games have been played and the final scores that Alabama hasn't gotten as much credit but here is something to think about. Kentucky and Ole Miss were close games in scores but the outcome of those games weren't in doubt. It was the same with Georgia, the scores looked closer than the actual game. As for LSU which really was down to the wire, Bama got in one really close game this season and found a way to win. When Florida was in the same position, they found a way to lose. Meyer has already admitted that Florida hasn't seen anything like Bama's offensive or defensive lines all season. The other thing the Gators haven't seen but one other time this season, (Ole Miss), is a very well coached team that is very good. They have seen well coached teams that aren't very good, (Kentucky, South Carolina, Vandy) and they have seen not so well coached teams that have been good, (UGA and LSU). In Atlanta, I expect a different outcome. Don't get me wrong. This isn't a prediction of an Alabama victory but I would be shocked if Florida blows Bama out the same way they have with the rest of their competition this year."
"The Battle for the SEC Game 2" written shortly past midnight on December 6th, 2009
