“It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling popcorn or calling plays, I mean everybody’s got to be on the same play trying to improve in the same direction”. His most head-turning coaching decision came in the second game of the season when he lit into his team – during and after the game – for an “embarrassing” performance against East Carolina.
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And even though placekicker Aaron Medley missed three long field goals against Alabama, UT has been exceptional on special teams. It’s remarkable that he’s gone from starting off 0-4 to making 13/14 in his last six games. Needless to say, he’s been an incredible asset for the Tide.
“This is a big game”. The Heisman hopeful had 150 of his 183 yards, and two touchdowns, during the final 15 minutes of a 27-2 rout. In that game he rushed for 136 yards on 26 carries.
Saban said earlier in this week he disagreed with the notion that Florida won’t pose a challenge for Alabama. Can Alabama win this one big or will Florida find a way to push the under? Weve got to take it one step at a time, so were just focused on this game..
On the season, the Alabama Crimson Tide average 215.2 yards in passing and 206.2 yards in rushing. He has good relationships with the players they respond well to him. Moreover, there was little depth at running back or wide receiver. He also has been known to carry a couple defenders with him in order to get a first down.
Michigan State is a 3.5-point favorite, which sounds about right.
The Spartans have a good front seven, and Iowa likes to run. Alabama on the record season was 11-1 SU and 7-5 ATS.
If the reports are true, would Smart leave immediately or coach the Crimson Tide through the postseason? The secondary, led by cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves III and Jalen Tabor, is fast and deep. Florida is almost as stout on the defensive side, ranking in the top 10 nationally in all four major categories. A reporter informed him that the Crimson Tide ranks second nationally in total defense, while Florida’s struggling offense ranks 104th nationally. He expects it to be the toughest challenge the team faces this season.
The situation is similar to Alabama quarterback Jake Coker. I wouldn’t be shocked if Treon Harris’s line for the game ends up somewhere around there.
“That was a heck of a ball game now”. Coker is a big guy at 6’5.
The Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1) are the dominating story.
McElwain also shouldered some of the blame, saying he might be asking Harris to do too much. He’s learning. He’s there. “He’s our quarterback and I’m glad he’s our quarterback”.
Alabama enters this game as the SEC West victor. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column pointing out how McElwain, like the great Steve Spurrier did in his first season at UF in 1990, has immediately healed Gator Nation and injected the program with a jolt of confidence. Since that loss, Alabama has consistently played to a high standard and has fought their way back to being ranked number two in by the College Football Playoff Committee. Florida defensive lineman Ellis Johnson was named the game’s MVP.
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Florida instead must try to leap from discovery mode to some kind of a eureka moment in one Georgia Dome evening. I realize there are no certainties in life other than the Great Beyond and the Taxman, and I realize there are sure as hell no certainties in college football – a sport where defeat has always been seized from the jaws of victory in ways that feel like surrealistic fever dreams – but I’m sitting here racking my brain, and I can not fathom any possible scenario in which Florida beats Alabama in the SEC Championship game on Saturday.
