In a rematch of the 2020 SEC Championship, Florida welcomes Alabama to the Swamp on Saturday at 2:30 PM CT.

 

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FLORIDA:

On Defense, expect Florida to come out blitzing. Bryce Young will have the first true road test of his career in one of the toughest environments in college football.

Florida doesn’t have the corners and safety’s to limit the Bama wide receivers, so expect the Gators to start off with a lot of blitzing to put pressure on this young Bama O-Line and Bryce Young.

Alabama needs Bryce Young to continue to be mobile and escape to make down the field throws like he did in Atlanta against Miami.

On Offense, look for the Gators to start off with two things. RPO’s and throws to the tight end. Anytime you have a dual-threat quarterback like Anthony Richardson, RPO’s are a safe bet. Look for Dan Mullen to mix it up to get the Alabama defense on its heels early. Look for some medium routes over the middle to the tight end or look for Richardson to try and get it done with his feet, like he did with an 80-yard touchdown run in Tampa last week.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ALABAMA:

This will be a tough test for Alabama’s defense. One of the keys will be if Will Anderson is able to go or not. If he is not, then it gets that much tougher for Alabama. Alabama will use Henry To’oto’o a lot in QB Spy to try and contact the Gators RPO’s.

Alabama will also use Drew Sanders as well as  Phidarian Mathis to get after Richardson and stop his mobility.  

If Will Anderson is good to go that will be a huge boost for the Tide defense. If he plays expect him to be in the backfield a lot.

Expect Malachi Moore to have a great time as well as Josh Jobe and Jordan Battle. This Alabama D is stacked. The Question is how do they handle the dual threat of Florida’s offense?

As of now, the weather calls for rain. So that makes things a lot more interesting. I don’t think playing in the Swamp is going to be a huge difference in the end. True road games don’t usually seem to phase Alabama unless it’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Alabama is the better team in this matchup, but so much can happen as we have already seen in some games this year.

It will be interesting to see if that Florida defense has improved from last season.

They gave up 52 to Alabama last year in Atlanta and I think they will give up a lot this year as well.

However, I think Florida will be able to stay in the game because of their offense. It hasn’t been that sharp so far this season, but the potential is there for a really good offense. I think Florida will test Alabama early and it will be a tight game at half and through three quarters. But in the end I think experience and coaching are the deciding factors and Alabama comes away with the win in the Swamp.

I have this game right at the spread and over/under total. With Thursday’s current lines, that would mean I have the Gators covering by a hair and the over hitting by essentially a field goal.

I am confident the Tide win this game and by double digits, but am not confident enough to take this spread either way. -14.5 is a fluky number that can truly go either way.

As for the over/under, I would bet the over up to 62 points.

PREDICTION: Alabama 38 Florida 24

Spread: FLORIDA +14.5 🐊

Over/Under: OVER 59.5 ⬆️