By Ian Palmer
The Florida Gators will be taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide for the first time in three years in regular-season conference play. Alabama is still one of the country’s top college teams and will hope to challenge for the national title while Florida has slipped a bit over the past few seasons. This game will be taking place at the Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday, September 20.
NCAA Football Betting Lines are up at bet365 where Alabama is laying 14.5 at home against the Florida Gators.
The Gators had to go to three overtime sessions last week to take care of Kentucky 36-30 after beating them 27 straight times at home prior to their meeting. Florida also gave up 369 passing yards and weren’t able to take advantage of their three pass interceptions and Kentucky’s turnovers. However, the main thing is they got the win and it snapped the Gators five-game losing string against SEC opponents. They’ll need to be a lot better if they hope to upset Alabama on the road though. Florida’s season-opener against Idaho was postponed while they hammered Eastern Michigan 65-0 on week two.
Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel gained 295 yards against Kentucky and went 25 for 43 with three touchdown passes, but he didn’t really play up to his potential. Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson had a fine game though as he scored a pair of touchdown with 15 receptions and 216 yards. He also played well against Eastern Michigan a week earlier with a touchdown and 123 yards.
If Alabama does have a noticeable weakness it would have to be their secondary. However they’re 3-0 after beating West Virginia 33-23 in their opener and following up with a 41-0 beating of Florida Atlantic and a 52-12 victory over Southern Mississippi. Alabama allowed 365 yards against West Virginia when Kevin White scored a touchdown and added 143 yards. This gives Florida a bit of hope if Driskel and Robinson continue to connect with each other.
Alabama has improved quite a bit since their opening 10-point win over West Virginia as their past two contests have been blowouts against overmatched opponents. Still, they didn’t score enough points to cover the spread in any of their first three games and are 0-3 ATS. Their past two games have shown how good Alabama is. They have a pair of fine quarterbacks in Jake Coker and Blake Sims and these two combined for three touchdowns and 430 yards against Florida Atlantic. Against Southern Miss they had five touchdowns and 333 yards.
However, the best player for the Crimson Tide so far this campaign may very well be wide receiver Amari Cooper. Cooper is averaging 151 yards per game along with 11 receptions up to now and he should give Florida plenty to worry about on Saturday afternoon. Alabama’s defense has also been playing well as their front seven has shut down their opponent’s running games in every game. They’ve allowed just 66 carries against for an average of just over two yards each.
Florida’s defense will have a tough time of it against Alabama and their offense isn’t likely to find it easy either. There’s a good chance the Tide will cover the spread for the first time this season in this one.
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