Bama vs. FL

[Dr. B]

Well, got the tix today to see Bama vs. Fla this weekend. Guess we'll see how good Alabama really is with Brodie. What ya'll think?

Dr. B
Montgomery

[QUACKERS]

florida will be to much for the tide, I have not seen the line but i say Gators by 17

[the doctor]

gators by 3.5

I think they will get it done in Bama...should be a good game

the doc

[savethehens]

bama by three

[Sambo]

Gators by a touchdown.

[webbmaster]

Aubs eat boogers.

[webbmaster]

Perspective Piece
Florida vs. Alabama, Oct. 1

By Matthew Zemek

There seems to be one thing in this world you can count on, in addition to death and taxes: Florida and Alabama playing a significant football game whenever they meet on the gridiron.
It’s amazing how the momentum of life has taken this occasional SEC rivalry and built it back into a big deal, just in time for its renewal. At this point of last season, one would have been very wise to think this contest wouldn’t have amounted to a hill of beans. A full year ago, anyone gazing at their SEC football crystal ball would have said that this game would have been a Jefferson Pilot 1230pm broadcast, not worthy of ESPN2, let alone CBS.

But no, Gators-Tide has managed to become a very big ballgame. How utterly appropriate.

Steve Spurrier’s first big SEC win came against the Tide in 1990. After that, these two schools—one with Bear Bryant’s aura, the other with the aura of a coach who made Bryant a sage (the Bear once said, “If those guys at Florida ever get the right coach, the rest of us will be playing for second”)—knocked heads in a series of stirring SEC Championship games throughout the 1990s. Whether in Birmingham or Atlanta, you could pretty much count on Gene Stallings’ Tide and Spurrier’s Gators having at it on the first Saturday of December from 1992 through 1996, with a Danny Ford Arkansas team preventing Bama (in ’95) from meeting Florida five straight times in the SEC’s ultimate season-ending battle. The classic contrast of Stallings’ defense-first football against Spurrier’s modernized Fun ‘n’ Gun offense made for classic football theater, epitomized best by the ’94 matchup between two college football legends, Jay Barker and Danny Wuerffel, who dueled until death in a 24-23 epic won by Florida.

After Stallings left, this clash had two more meetings, and sure enough, they both proved to be incredibly important games in the life and history of each program. A 40-39 Bama win in Gainesville in the 1999 season snapped the Gators’ 30-game home winning streak at the Swamp. More importantly, it affected the emotional tenor of the teams’ SEC title game rematch, won by the Tide in a runaway. That meeting in Atlanta was the Tide’s last taste of SEC glory, while the painful defeat—though overwhelming at the time—motivated the Gators to rebound and win their most recent league title a season later. Championships always seem to be in the air, waiting to be claimed, when Alabama and Florida trade blows on a football field.

Sure enough, it will be no different this time around.

Urban Meyer has surely restored the swaggering confidence and mature attitude of Florida football’s salad days, if not (yet) the full quality of play produced in the Spurrier era. With attention to detail and a relentless focus on player development, Meyer has successfully convinced his players to buy in to his system, thereby enabling Florida footballers to get out of their own way and play closer to their capabilities, something clearly not witnessed in the Ron Zook era. Even though Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville is still just beginning, one can already see the imprints of a coach who blends teaching with attitudinal awareness to create a kind of player—and by extension, a program—that is both prepared and confident. It’s why the Gators enter this Bama battle with a chance to show the SEC that their win over Tennessee was a sign of greater accomplishments, not a fortuitous victory that masked notable weaknesses.

For Alabama, Mike Shula—who kept his team quite competitive over the previous two years despite boatloads of distractions and injuries—shows every indication of leading the Tide back to full-fledged SEC respectability. With Brodie Croyle healthy, Shula has a linchpin player at the quarterback position who can lead his team through the toughest battles and hottest holy wars, all the way to a long-sought SEC West flag that, with LSU’s Monday night loss to Tennessee, is now that much more attainable. A blowout win over South Carolina a few weeks ago showed that the Tide will be part of the SEC championship discussion in 2005; a win over Florida on Saturday, however, will make the Tide the centerpiece of discussion in the conference.

Florida, back from mediocrity, has its eye on the East.

Alabama, emerging from its own struggles, has its sights set on the West.

The Gators have rediscovered their swagger and want to put it to use in a big-time spotlight game, telling the world that their toppling of Rocky Top was no fluke.

The Tide have persevered through adversity in recent years, and want to make this game their re-entry point into the top tier of the SEC.

Sure enough, Florida-Alabama is significant again. Some things are still normal in the world after all

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Columnists/MZ/Week5/PP_Florida_Alabama.htm

[GordonGekko]

Alabama's defense is playin better than any team UF's played yet...so far not impressed with Saint Urbans offense.... I think Bama wins a close one...on the strength of their defense.

[webbmaster]

Tennesse doesn't have a good defense????

I dont think Floridas defense has been tested.

[GordonGekko]

didn't say they weren't good but they haven't played as well a Bama, this year...they played well the 2nd half of the LSU game, and defended the run well against UF, but aren't a great defense....

[webbmaster]

didn't say they weren't good but they haven't played as well a Bama, this year...they played well the 2nd half of the LSU game, and defended the run well against UF, but aren't a great defense....

They allowed one touchdown by Florida.

In the LSU game, all three TDs were results of turnovers. The first was a fumble inside the 15...the third was Ainges pass out of the endzone (a thing of beauty at that).

I hate sticking up for TN, but come on??? If TNs offense wasnt having such problems, they would have beaten Florida and the LSU game wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

[GordonGekko]

UT doesn't have a great defense...when I mean great I'm talking Ohio State, Va. Tech defenses (particularly Ohio State), UT just doesn't have a great pass D, they are very good agains the run, but a middle of the pack team against the pass...don't have a great pass rush either.... I haven't looked at the stats but they appear a step behind Alabama, pretty close to UGA in fact, maybe not quite as solid at the corners.... JMO...with that an 50 cents you can get a cup of coffee.... but, UT doesn't have that overwhelming defense (in fact I haven't seen one of those in the SEC this year), it may develop into one but they aren't their yet....

[webbmaster]

I see Bama making some mistakes in special teams.

I also see Urban Meyer being a little more innovative with the offensive play calls, resulting in some quick TDs.

Florida 24
Bama 19

I hope I am wrong...but I'm right 99% of the time.

[Sambo]

At least you are honest, webbmaster.

[nomsduckhunter]

I think Tn defence is very good. I also think Bama's defense is very good. Bama's offence is playing well too, something we could not get done at Fl.

I see a good tough ballgame with Bama winning 24 - 21. If Brodie don't get hurt. Has Bama played a team with a good a defence as Fl.?

As bad as it hurts me I need Bama to win this one.