Alabama Defense Aims to Stifle Florida Passing Attack in SEC Championship Game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After Florida football’s loss at home to a 4-5 LSU team on Saturday night, both fans and media members alike began to express that Alabama’s upcoming matchup against the Gators in the SEC Championship Game was a sure win for the Crimson Tide.
But don’t tell that rat poison to the members of the Alabama defense.
On Tuesday night, Florida was revealed to have only dropped one spot in the College Football Playoff Rankings, keeping its hopes alive for a potential spot in the playoff. Dropping from sixth to seventh, the Gators will be fighting even harder this weekend in order to help its chances of making it in with the other final three teams.
On Monday during his weekly press conference, Alabama coach Nick Saban discussed why he feels that Florida could be an even more dangerous team now that they lost last Saturday night.
“I’m sure that they have a lot of pride in their performance, and I’m sure they’ll want to come out and prove they’re a very, very good team,” Saban said. “We expect them to play their best against us like a lot of teams do. They certainly have a very talented team and they’re certainly capable of beating anybody in the country.
“I think maybe what I feared at Arkansas that would happen to our team looking ahead to the SEC Championship Game might have had something to do with that, I don’t really know. You’d have to ask them about that. But I would expect them to respond in a very positive way to play in this SEC Championship Game. They still have a chance to win a championship regardless of what happened last week.”
Despite the loss last weekend, Florida’s passing game is still part of one of the top offenses in the SEC. Quarterback Kyle Trask is leading the SEC in passing yards with 3,717 and wide receiver Kadarius Toney is third in the conference in receiving yards with 831.
While tight end Kyle Pitts has missed three games, he still ranks eight in the SEC in receiving yards with 641.
In short, don’t underestimate this Gators passing game.
Stopping Trask and the Gators’ passing attack has to be the primary goal for the Crimson Tide defense. On Monday afternoon, defensive back Patrick Surtain II complimented Florida’s offense and stated that his team’s upcoming matchup against the potential Heisman Trophy finalist will be a tough one.
“Obviously they got a great passing attack,” Surtain said. “They put defenses on their heels. They’re very potent on offense. They use their receivers well. They got a great passing game and a great quarterback who’s very sound back there. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.
“Just picking up on tendencies. Seeing what they like to do from time to time. It’s gonna be an uphill battle. We’re gonna be prepared for it and we’re gonna be locked in for the game. We’re excited for the challenge.”
At Arkansas last weekend, Alabama’s pass rush and edge defense had its best performance of the season. The Crimson Tide totaled eight sacks against the two Razorback quarterbacks as well as 10 total tackles for loss.
Alabama defensive lineman D.J. Dale knows that he and his teammates on the line will have to repeat last Saturday’s effort if it wants to overcome Florida.
“They’re very explosive and have a lot of great players,” Dale said. “From watching the film against LSU, they use a lot of weapons to open up the field so they’re one of the best offenses.”
