ATLANTA – It is as if Superman has been cut in half and the two remaining entities will take opposite sidelines today in the Georgia Dome in a test of supreme powers.
The Florida Gators are faster than a speeding bullet. The Alabama Crimson Tide are more powerful than a locomotive.
Speed versus strength. Or is it?
“Florida gets talked about a lot, which they should – they do have incredible speed on their team and they’re fast,” said Alabama center Antoine Caldwell. “But we’re definitely confident in the speed that we’ve got on this football team, and we’ve got players that can make plays just like Florida does. It’s going to be exciting.”
It’s going to be a collision of forces between two squads that might be more similar than people think.
“We’re not a finesse team,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said with more than a trace of annoyance in his voice.
Anyone who saw Glen Coffee’s 41-yard touchdown run in Alabama’s 36-0 win over Auburn knows the Tide have speed. And anyone who watched Florida’s Brandon Spikes blast Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno knows the Gators can deliver a lick.
But at the end of the day, the team that wins this clash of SEC titans and advances to the BCS championship game will be the one that can get the SEC title game played on its terms. For 11-1 Florida, that means having Tim Tebow get the ball to his marvelous playmakers. For 12-0 Alabama, that means establishing its dominance on both lines.
Certainly Florida, which averages 46 points per game, will be well served by taking an early lead.
Clearly, the more Alabama, which averages 201 yards rushing, can lean on Florida and keep the ball away from Tebow and his weapons, the better its chances of winning.