Alabama Versus Florida: Too Much Hype! Alabama Set To Roll Big Over the Gators

The Crimson Tide comes into this confrontation with Florida prepared for anything the Gators can throw at them.

The Alabama defense has now been tested by one of the best quarterbacks in college football and were good enough when it counted—the fourth quarter. Moreover, the turnovers forced by the defense put the team in a position to win.

The offense showed the fortitude to overcome self-imposed obstacles and a tough Arkansas defense and had enough grit to pull out a win on the road. It is the kind of game that builds toughness and allows for tremendous growth during the season from one week to the next.

Alabama is prepared to dismantle the Gators at Bryant-Denny.

The University of Florida will meet up with a team that has their legs under them, prepared to defend their home turf in front of a fan base they absolutely love and respect. Offensively and defensively, the Crimson Tide will be at full strength.

The Gators are still finding their identity. They are an accomplished team, coming into the fifth weekend of college football undefeated at 4-0, as is their opponent. But with less than impressive wins at home against Miami-Ohio, South Florida, and on the road at Tennessee, the Florida Gators have not shown that they are capable of shutting an opponent down and taking control of the game.

Last week against Kentucky, UF showed more explosiveness offensively (thanks to Trey Burton) and the defense stood up against a pretty good offensive unit, limiting them to 14 points in the 48-14 Florida win.

Interestingly, Urban Meyer attributed Brantley's success in game four to "experience." Having one truly successful game in the 2010 season will not prepare John Brantley for what he is about to encounter in Tuscaloosa this weekend.

The Florida offense is more balanced than any team Alabama has played this season. Thus far in 2010, of 265 plays, Florida has attempted 114 passes and 151 rushing attempts.

The bulk of the rushing duty has been carried out by Jeffery Demps (53 attempts, 367 yards) and Emmanuel Moody (34 attempts, 125 yards). Mike Gillislee has 24 carries for 143 yards, ranking second in production out the Florida backfield.

Trey Burton, in his breakout game against UK, had five carries for 40 yards and scored five touchdowns. Prior to the Kentucky game, Burton had six carries for 15 yards.

Brantley has 13 rushing attempts for -15 yards, hardly a threat to run. Most of the lost yards came in the first two games due to horrible snaps from center Mike Pouncey.

This rushing attack will meet a brick wall against the Crimson Tide. Alabama has limited their first four opponents to an average of 106 yards rushing. Early Heisman hopeful, Evan Royster (Penn State) rushed for a total of 32 yards on nine carries against Alabama. The entire Arkansas stable of running backs accumulated 64 yards on 20 attempts.

There hasn't been a 100 yard rusher against Alabama in 38 consecutive games. That is nearly four consecutive seasons. In last year's SEC championship game, Demps gained 53 yards on 14 carries. He comes into Tuscaloosa this weekend nursing a sore foot.

If Florida is going to establish a running game against Alabama, Demps won't be the reason for it. Somebody else will need to have a breakout game. That is not likely against the efficient 3-4 defense Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and Sal Sunseri have put together for the Crimson Tide.

In order for Florida's offense to have success against the Tide, a passing game will need to be established. Following the test that the defensive backs for Alabama went through last week and the corrections in pass defense that have taken place during this week in practice, it is unlikely that first year starter John Brantley will repeatedly burn the Alabama secondary in his first big game away from home.

Nick Saban and Jeremy Pruitt have been hard at work showing the Alabama secondary where the mistakes were made and how to fix them.

In fact, it won't happen. The passing game will not get established in the game at Bryant-Denny.  In four games, Brantley has passed for 700 yards (175 yards/game). While the Alabama secondary is young and has shown a propensity for blown coverages, Brantley is simply not capable of big numbers. Taking into account the growth and maturity of the Alabama defense from the first to the second half last week, Brantley is in for a rude awakening.

He will be rushed, hurried, and forced to move out of the pocket. While the Alabama defense has not garnered a lot of sacks, every quarterback that has faced the Tide this year has been forced into committing turnovers.

San Jose State, one interception. Penn State, three interceptions. Duke, one interception. Arkansas' Ryan Mallet was forced into three errant passes that were intercepted by the Alabama defense, despite a season-high 357 yards passing given up by the Tide to the senior Razorback quarterback.

Brantley will falter against Alabama, just as the others have.  The only question is how many balls will he throw up for grabs?

This is certainly not a no-show game for the Florida Gators. They have the coaching and the athletes to compete with the Alabama Crimson Tide. But just competing is not enough to get the win.

Offensively, the Crimson Tide will pound the ball up and down the field against the Florida defense. When they load the box, just as McElroy did against Arkansas, the receivers will take over the game. At 6'4", Julio Jones has no match on the Florida defense. And if they load the box against the run, Julio will single handedly kill the Gators.

This offense will not be stymied, and mistakes will be less likely to occur following the performance by McElroy last week against the Hogs. The Alabama players will be hitting the town with freshly made alligator skin belts and boots from the bounty of hides skinned and tanned Saturday night.

McElroy, despite last week's set back, is sixth in total offense (226.5 yds/game), third in passing average (224.8 yds/game), and second in pass efficiency (178.6). Alabama's passing offense has already logged 1,068 yards, McElroy accounts for 899 yards. He has completed over 70 percent of his passes (61 completions of 86 attempts) and thrown for seven touchdowns.

Richardson and Ingram have combined for over 650 yards on the season on 80 carries, scoring eight touchdowns. As a unit, the two average 8.6 yards per carry. Add in Eddy Lacy's 26 carries, 126 yards and three touchdowns and you have a trifecta that just cannot lose.

Let it ride, baby, let it ride. This is the easiest bet of the weekend. Roll Tide Roll.