On Saturday afternoon, the third ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0) faces off with the Florida Gators (2-0) for the first time since 2011. Alabama has defeated Florida soundly the last three times the two programs have met but there are many questions for both teams early in this 2014 season. Florida looks to rebound following a horrific 2013 and Alabama continues to carve out its identity under new quarterback Blake Sims and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. This will be the biggest test of the season thus far for both teams.
Amari Cooper vs. Vernon Hargreaves III
The biggest matchup anywhere on the field Saturday will pit the best receiver in the country, Alabama’s Amari Cooper, against one of the best cornerbacks in the country, Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves III. Hargreaves is a physical cover corner and he will look to take away the quick passes and screens Cooper has destroyed defenses with so far this year. Defenses have decided to play off of Cooper a lot this year looking to take away the deep throw but that has only spelled disaster for defenses with Cooper taking short pass after short pass for huge gains. He also leads the country in receptions with 33. Hargreaves will likely attempt to get in Cooper’s face and take him out of the offense to try to make Sims take more shots down the field or look to other receivers especially since Cooper has more catches than any other receiver on the team combined. This will certainly be THE key matchup of the game.
The other receivers
With DeAndrew White likely returning for this game after separating his shoulder in the opener, Sims will have another deadly threat to look to at receiver. Regardless of who he goes to, Sims will need to find success with targets other than Cooper in this game as Florida will certainly game plan around trying to take the All-American out of the game. Christion Jones, Chris Black, DeAndrew White, and especially OJ Howard must come up big against the Gators defense. Despite Hargreaves being one of the best corners in the country, the Gators did allow Kentucky to throw for 369 yards so there is definitely some vulnerability there. Also, the Alabama running game will go a long way to taking some pressure off of Sims and the passing game. TJ Yeldon, Derrick Henry, and Kenyan Drake must get their touches.
Making the sure tackle
Much like Alabama this year Florida is using a quick, short passing game to get their playmakers the ball in space to make a play. That means the Alabama defensive backs will need to make sure tackles quick to keep the Gators offense from picking up chunks of yardage and getting rolling. There will be a lot of pressure on Geno Smith and Maurice Smith in the first half as they will be sharing the “star” role with Nick Perry suspended for the first half due to his targeting penalty last week. Smith will likely play a lot at safety as well. Freshman cornerback Tony Brown has received a lot of reps with the first team defense this week so it will be interesting to see how well he does in obviously his biggest test thus far. If he is able to play well, it will take some pressure off of Eddie Jackson as he continues to come back from his spring knee injury.
The pass rush
Alabama’s defensive line and pass rushers have really come on in the last few weeks putting a ton of pressure on quarterbacks. The short, quick passing game affects a defense by making sure that the defense can’t get a hand on the quarterback. That is another reason why the defenders must make quick, sure tackles and not allow a lot of yards after catch. The defense must get Florida in some long down and distance situations so those pass rushers can get a shot at making Gator quarterback Jeff Driskel feel the pressure. One guy to watch in this game is A’Shawn Robinson likely returning to his traditional defensive end position. He has played a lot at nose tackle early this year going against spread style teams but this week he will get more of a chance to attack the quarterback. Also, Jonathan Allen will look to make his presence felt once again.