Florida Football: Gators Will Put Up Gritty Fight vs. Crimson Tide

The way the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide have been playing lately, there are few teams in the nation who figure to even make it close when they match up.

But as the Crimson Tide head to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, they have a worthy opponent: the No. 12 Florida Gators.

The Gators don't have an explosive passing game, but they have the defense to make it a game against Alabama.

Coming into Saturday's matchup, the Gators have allowed opponents to complete just 52 percent of their passes (limiting Tennessee's Tyler Bray to 54 percent passing) and come through in the biggest area against Alabama: the rush defense.

Through four games, the Gators have allowed only 2.1 yards per carry, tied for seventh in the nation. For an Alabama offense averaging 6.2 yards per carry (tied for seventh in the nation), that Gators' rush defense can come in mighty handy.

Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron has been better than expected this season, completing 75 percent of his passes and tossing two touchdowns against Arkansas in Week 4. But we all know the Crimson Tide offense largely revolves around tailback Trent Richardson, who some are calling better than his former teammate and current New Orleans Saint Mark Ingram.

Now, it's pretty hard to completely stop Richardson, but the Gators should be able to contain him. In addition to that, the Gators are averaging 6.0 yards per carry this season, barely edged out by Alabama. They're doing this behind running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps. I'm not going to say they're going to run all over the Crimson Tide rush defense (one of the best in college football), but I do think they will able to keep the Crimson Tide off the field more than opponents have thus far.

This is a huge test for the Gators, a program that has unbelievably rebounded after Urban Meyer's retirement. You don't see any Gators fans complaining about new head coach Will Muschamp, who has prepared this team much in the same way as Mike Shanahan of the Washington Redskins has in the NFL.

With the Gators playing at home and playing very well lately, expect the Crimson Tide to get a much grittier fight than they could have expected.