Alabama vs. Florida: Florida's Hope Stands at Five-Foot-Seven

Florida quarterback John Brantley is a late-blooming, fifth-year senior, and come Saturday, he will need the help of his halfbacks more than ever to lighten his load.

The Crimson Tide is ranked first in the nation in passing completion percentage defense with 43.9 percent and first in yards per attempt allowed at 3.5.  Naturally, this indicates a severe need for a solid running game to allow the Gators to stretch the field.

Look what happened to Arkansas when they came out with 17 total rushing yards.  A team cannot possibly beat Alabama with no run game. 

Trying it on the ground or in the air against Alabama is the same as a pan and a fire.  But which one is the pan?  Florida will have to find out by the end of the first quarter and jump in it. 

Arkansas' Ronnie Wingo, Jr. should have been the toughest running back from the Tide's first four games.  Instead, he was held to 35 yards. 

Wingo is a power back, though.  He's strong, and you have to be strong to punch it up the middle.  That just doesn't work against the Tide.  Their defensive line is huge, as are their linebackers. 

Currently, it seems the only way to get decent yardage against the Tide on the ground would be on runs outside the tackles.  To do that you have to be fast.  Very fast. Like, track-star fast. 

Fortunately for Florida, their running backs—Jeff Demps (5'7", 191 lbs) and Chris Rainey (5'9", 174 lbs)—are two of the fastest players in college football (Demps is actually the fastest in college ball).  But don't be fooled, their lateral speed is just as good. 

Though the Tide secondary often makes run-stopping plays, the true run-stoppers are the D-line and the linebackers, who often penetrate the line to make the stop in the backfield. 

It will boil down to this for Florida:  Running up the middle is not an option, and getting the ball to Demps and Rainey on the outside, or somewhere in space, is their only chance. 

This is going to keep 'Bama's secondary from going too deep.  Dont'a Hightower and Courtney Upshaw are great run-stopping linebackers, but how would they fare trying to chase down guys almost 100 pounds lighter than them, one of whom runs around a 10-second 100-meter dash?  They might catch them, but it would be well past the line of scrimmage. 

The Alabama secondary cannot stray too far from the line of scrimmage, because Rainey and Demps can pick up five, six, maybe seven yards in the blink of an eye.  That's enough to keep the chains moving. 

Will going outside the tackles gain them solid yardage and propel them to the win?  Maybe not, but it's their best chance.  It will, however, really open up the field for Gator QB John Brantley. 

Now that he is in an offensive scheme much more suited to his abilities, he's looking to put up solid numbers.  He's already looking a lot better than he did in 2010.

Will Brantley win the game for the Gators?  Not likely. 

The sheer speed and elusiveness of Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, either running the ball or catching out of the backfield, offers a lot of hope for the Gators facing a very favored opponent.  If they can't get it done on the ground, they might get it done on short, dump-off passes.  If that doesn't work, Florida's offensive coordinator still has a bag of tricks that isn't just limited to the jump pass. 

The running back duo's Achilles' heel, their height, could also be a blessing in disguise in this matchup as well.  How in the world do you find a guy that is 5'7" behind men that are between 6'4" and 6'6", let alone figure out which direction he's going?

The Alabama defense is fast, but are they fast enough to keep up with Division I college sprinters?  In a footrace, no. So the Tide will have to sniff the plays out before they happen, literally, and they are very good at that. 

If the Gator running back duo starts to pick up yardage, the Tide will need to make some really mean hits on them—if they get the chance. It wouldn't take much to wear out a man the size of Mr. Miyagi. 

Against a team like Alabama, John Brantley can't put his team on his shoulders, but Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey just might be able to. 

If they can't, Florida has no chance of winning, at least not offensively.

Who knows?  Maybe the Gators defense can come away with three or four pick sixes and a couple of fumbles.