Derrick Henry enhanced his Heisman Trophy candidacy and Alabama is heading to the College Football Playoff as the SEC’s first back-to-back champion in 17 years. His tenure at Alabama included two national titles. Still the same old Nick Saban. He coached the Colorado State team that traveled to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It will the responsibility of Florida’s defensive front to make it that type of game.
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Florida struggles offensively, but the squad has been able to win games thanks to the work of the defense. There hasn’t been a lot of offense to come by for either squad. He’s evolved from being mistake prone through the first half of 2015 to throwing only two interceptions in the final six contests this year. This is all he needs to do with the talent he has around him.
This is your chance to show that you can take a box of crayons and create the Mona Lisa. “We’ve got a long ways to go, but I think the thing that celebrated is how quickly these guys have changed the way they think”.
The SEC Championship between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators pivoted from a highly-anticipated matchup to a major mismatch over the last few weeks of the season.
It owns the SEC’s top-ranked defense and the nation’s leading rusher, 6-foot-3, 242-pound Derrick Henry. I’ll tell you what: We’re going to get there. Even so, the Gators have a very high hill to climb if they are going to even be in the discussion for that. Every play Florida runs that Alabama doesn’t is a play that Henry isn’t wearing down the opposition. Henry is big, fast and impossible to stop at times. For the game, Henry had 46 possessions, a record for the school, and ended up tallying 271 yards total. “For that opportunity, I just can’t tell you how grateful I am and how lucky I am”.
During his news conference on Friday, first-year SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said 5-7 teams playing in bowl games “doesn’t seem to be a healthy direction”. However, this defense does have the ability to at least slow him down. Quarterback Jack Cooker threw for 179 yards and one touchdown. The linebacking corps knows how to tackle while players like Jonathan Bullard and Bryan Cox cause havoc in the backfield from the defensive line.
So we’ve established that Florida is a defeated team, and here’s the thing, Florida is also a good team.
Ever since an upset loss to Ole Miss in their third game of the season, the Crimson Tide have steamrolled through their remaining schedule. Watch Florida vs Alabama online free live streaming on TV or the Internet today as the Crimson Tide take another step toward the College Football Playoff.
The Gators’ biggest challenge, though, is themselves, specifically their offense. This includes linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties coming from all angles. Despite their lack of scoring punch against Florida State, the Gators still managed to run 79 plays and are right there with Alabama averaging about 33 minutes in time of possession.
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Today, the Gators will find out just how far McElwain’s program still has to go.
