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NCAA Football Alabama Crimson TideFlorida Gators

Alabama vs. Florida: Game Preview With TV Schedule

By @Connormuldowney

Alabama

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With one average test through the first three weeks of the season thus far, the Alabama Crimson Tide are heading into conference play with a relatively untested unit. Nick Saban has put together a team this season that can contend for a national title — as he does every year — but doing so without an experienced leader at QB is a different story.

Many have said that head coach Will Muschamp is on the hot seat after compiling just a 22-16 record in his first three seasons as the head coach of the Florida Gators, so this game could be crucial to his future with the program. With a 2-0 record heading into conference play, the Gators must contend for a conference title in order to keep their coach at the helm.

Almost losing to West Virginia in the first week of the season seemed to be a wakeup call for the Crimson Tide and their offense as the team has put together back-to-back 40-plus point wins. Alabama is putting its trust in a first-year starter by the name of Blake Sims at quarterback and he is paying off. The senior quarterback has waited his turn behind AJ McCarron and now that he is finally getting his chance, he’s taking advantage of it, passing for 646 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another 102 yards and two scores. His favorite target happens to be one of the nation’s top wide outs, Amari Cooper. The junior wide out has caught 33 passes for 454 yards and two touchdowns while the next closest receiver is Christion Jones with 133 yards on nine catches. T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry have become quite the dynamic duo in the run game, accounting for 225 yards and 209 yards, respectively. Yeldon has two touchdowns to Henry’s one.

Florida had been hoping for some major improvement at quarterback behind Jeff Driskel as the junior had not been overly impressive under center in his season-plus of being the team’s starting QB. His season ended early because of injury a season ago, but many hoped he would come back better than ever and he’s off to a solid start. Driskel has passed for 543 yards and four touchdowns with just a lone interception in two games. Sophomore Demarcus Robinson has been the quarterback’s favorite target — by far. Robinson has caught 21 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns while Quinton Dunbar is the next closest receiver and he has just 88 yards and no touchdowns on seven catches. The run game has been quite solid this year as well behind Matt Jones and his 221 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a solid six yards per carry.

Defensively, the Gators rank 16th in the nation, allowing just 15 points per contest. Along with allowing a mere 15 points per game, Florida ranks 15th in the nation in yards allowed, giving up just 287.5 yards a game. Yeldon and Henry might have a long day as the Gators give up an average of just 80 rushing yards per game. Alabama has also been solid defensively this season, allowing just 11.7 points per game and only 267 total yards per contest. This could be a bit of a defensive battle, but the Tide will most likely come out on top.

Florida will travel to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide at 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, Sept. 20. The game will be broadcasted on CBS.

PREDICTION: Florida 16, Alabama 34

Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. You can also reach him at [email protected].