Written by Michael Casagrande at AL.com
We can start by acknowledging this is one of the more lopsided SEC Championship matchups in memory.
No. 1 Alabama is a 24-point favorite over the East Division survivor Florida. This is a meeting of the Crimson Tide’s top-ranked defense against a Gator offense that ranks at the bottom of the SEC.
It’s to the point where Florida coach Jim McElwain was asked about his being considered a mismatch. But they’ll still line up at 3 p.m. CT Saturday for the final SEC title game in the Georgia Dome.
If Florida (8-3) is going to make this a game, here are a few things that must happen:
Big play
To be clear, this would have to be a low-scoring game for Florida to contend. It has the nation’s No. 114 scoring offense averaging 24.0 points a game.
It’s not been much of a home run threat this year, either. In terms of plays covering 30-plus yards, the Gators rank 122nd of 128 FBS teams with a total of 17.
Florida does, however, have one of the 14 plays in college football that traveled more than 90 yards. Quarterback Austin Appleby hit Tyrie Cleveland for a 98-yard touchdown in a 16-10 win over LSU.
Alabama hasn’t been too susceptible to the big chunk plays this year. The 19 play of 30-plus yards allowed ranks 19th in the country. A few opponents — Ole Miss and Arkansas — hit a few of those plays.
Get QB out of pocket
When Alabama defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson described Florida’s offense, the senior said the Gators like to have its quarterback throw from the pocket. That’s not the best plan against Alabama’s nasty front seven.
It might not be a bad idea to get the big passer outside the tackles, maybe add a running threat. At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, Appleby isn’t small but had pretty good speed.
The Gators tried to work some read-option looks into the plan at Florida State. It didn’t go particularly well, though McElwain talked about its utility in the SEC title game.
“It is kind of an element of surprise we’re going to have to use this week, more from a wildcat standpoint as well, with him being that kind of guy,” McElwain told reporters in Gainesville on Monday. “There again, to create different shifts, formations, motions, to try to get a guy be out of his gap. These guys are really gap sound in what they do.”
Tide defensive end Jonathan Allen had no trouble identifying the offense that gave Alabama the most trouble.
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