Alabama vs Florida: Are the Gators Bound to Fade in October?

The Will Muschamp era at Florida has gotten off to a terrific start and the Gainesville natives can’t be anything but pleased. 

The Gators are 4-0 and ranked No. 12 in the country going into their big SEC showdown with Alabama tonight and both the offensive and defensive units have asserted their strength on weaker opponents. 
Muschamp has to be happy where his team is at right now but he also has to realize that the road is about to get much bumpier. 

Beating the likes of Florida Atlantic and UAB is one thing; beating the top teams in college football’s most powerful conference is another. 

The Gators will have quite a test in today’s battle with the Tide and it’s only the beginning of a very tough stretch of the season.

After the Alabama game, comes road trips to LSU, Auburn and South Carolina, and visits from Georgia and Florida State. 

The Gators have the type of offensive playmakers with Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps along with a strong defensive front seven to compete with all of those teams, but that’s quite a gauntlet to survive. We’re really going to find out what Muschamp is made of as a coach during the stretch run of the season. 

So far, you have to be impressed with what Florida’s been able to accomplish, but it’s hard to judge just how good this team is because of the weak competition they’ve faced.

Quarterback John Brantley finally looks like he’s settle down and started to play up to his potential, but we’re going to have to see how the senior signal-caller fares against defenses like Alabama’s and LSU’s before we can make a true judgment. 

Luckily for the Gators, the two inexperienced weak spots of the team (the secondary and the offensive line) have had a month to gel and work out some kinks. The Gators are going to need both units to step up and really play at a high level if they hope to survive SEC play. 

Muschamp’s certainly got a talented group to work with—however, the question is, can they get the job done when they get in the ring with the big boys?

We’ll have to see how Florida fares when the heat gets turned up.