Florida and Alabama.

Despite the struggles the Gators have experienced in the last few years, it’s always a marquee matchup anytime two of the SEC powers get together.

Alabama is a two-score favorite over Florida, but do they necessarily have the advantage at every position? We break down each position and say who has the upper hand.

Quarterback

Florida’s starting quarterback Jeff Driskel had a successful sophomore season in 2012, but has yet to establish himself as a reliable quarterback for the Gators, thanks to a season-ending injury last season. He looked sharp in the season-opener, but against Kentucky, Driskel looked uncomfortable made some really poor decisions. Despite  an up-and-down second game, Driskel’s still has been productive, throwing for 543 yards and four touchdowns in just two games. The Florida offense hinges on Driskel’s performance Saturday.

As for Alabama, Blake Sims seems to have emerged in the team’s quarterback competition, despite Nick Saban not yet naming an official starter. He’ll get the start again over Jacob Coker this weekend and will probably play all of the meaningful snaps. Sims has been good thus far, but nothing overly impressive. He’s thrown just 64 passes in three games, so they aren’t relying solely on the performance of the senior for offensive success. Still, Sims can make plays and break off a nifty run every now and then. However, Sims is still relatively unproven against a tough defense like he’ll see against the Gators.

Advantage: Florida – Drisekl’s shown the ability to win big games (see 2012). This will be Sims’ first real test in a big game, so I give the Gators the advantage at quarterback this weekend.

Running back

The Gators have shown surprising depth at the running back this season with four players – Matt Jones, Kelvin Taylor, Mack Brown and Brandon Powell – all contributing in the team’s first four games. Jones and Taylor are the clear front-runners to receive the bulk of the carries this Saturday. Jones is a much bigger running back at 6-foot-3, 235-pounds and is coming off a 156-yard performance against Kentucky. He’s a physical, tough runner who excels in the middle of the field, running north-and-south. Taylor, on the other hand, has great field vision and can also run well in the middle of the field, but he’s great at bouncing it outside and utilizing his speed to pick up some big yards.

Alabama’s top two running backs – TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry – is arguably college football’s best running back duo. If Yeldon keeps pace with his past two years of 1,000-plus yards, the junior has a great shot at becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher. Henry, like Florida’s Jones, is a physically intimidating back at 6-foot-3 and nearly 240 pounds. He’s a punishing rusher that is incredibly tough to bring down. Yeldon and Henry’s incredible blend of size and speed between both of them is unmatched in the SEC.

Advantage: Alabama – They’re the one of the best 1-2 punch running back duos in college football. Tough to bet against them.

Wide Receiver

Florida’s No. 1 wide receiver Demarcus Robinson has exploded in the first two games this season, highlighted by a 15 reception, 216 yard game against Kentucky. The sophomore leads a group of receivers for Florida that is littered with athletes, but not a ton of playmakers. Robinson will clearly be Driskel’s main target, but behind Robinson the picture gets much foggier.

For Alabama, Amari Cooper is one of the nation’s top wide receivers, if not the best. Through three games, Cooper has hauled in 33 receptions for 454 yards, both of which lead the SEC. It’s obvious that new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin wants Cooper to be an integral part of the offense. Behind Cooper, Christion Jones and Deandrew White are two receivers that can break it open at any point. Jones also is the team’s primary returner, further showing just how explosive he can be with the football.

Advantage: Alabama – The combination of Cooper, Jones and White is hard to match throughout college football.

Offensive line

With an injury sustained to left tackle DJ Humphries, the Gators were forced to do some shuffling around, forcing Rod Johnson to make his first collegiate start last week against Kentucky. It was a little rocky for the Florida offensive line, a unit that had trouble picking up several of Kentucky’s blitzes, especially the corner blitz. Humphries is a key loss for the Gators in this game and they’ll need to make some obvious improvements in pass protection before facing Alabama.

During Nick Saban’s time at Alabama, the offensive line has always been a huge strong point for the offense. This season, the talent is clearly there for Alabama along the offensive line, but this year’s group has struggled to stay consistent. They’ve had to shuffle around some pieces throughout the first few weeks of the season, but the line has in large part remained successful.

Advantage: Alabama – They’ve only allowed two sacks through three games and feature a strong blend of experience and talent. Despite the lack of continuity compared to past seasons, the Crimson Tide’s offensive line should only get better as the season goes on.

Defensive line

The Gators defensive line is anchored by BUCK Dante Fowler, who is the team’s main edge rusher, has been active in opposing backfield all season. His explosiveness off the line is noticeably faster this season thanks to Fowler trimming down in the offseason. With Fowler at his best and experienced players like Jonathan Bullard, Leon Orr and Darious Cummings by his side, the Gators defensive line can be a game-changer this Saturday.

There’s no question that Alabama has the talent to match up with any other defensive line in the country, but the production hasn’t quite been there as expected through the first few weeks. Sophomore Jonathan Allen leads the team with four tackles for loss and is the only defensive lineman to record a sack this season. A’Shawn Robinson, Brandon Ivory, DJ Pettway and Jarran Reed round out the depth chart for Alabama. The Tide will need contributions from most of them against the Gators in order to win the game.

Advantage: Florida – Before the season, Alabama’s defensive line probably would have gotten the advantage here, but the production through the first three weeks of the season favors the Gators. I’ll give them the upper hand here.

Linebacker

Neiron Ball and Michael Taylor are the clear leaders of the Gators’ linebacking corps, but junior Antonio Morrison has also gotten off to a strong start. All three starters lead the team in tackles with 11 each and Ball also is the team leader with 2.5 tackles for loss. Jarrad Davis adds depth at linebacker, however, the remaining players are rather unproven.

The return of Trey DePriest in Week 2 made a huge difference for the Alabama defense. DePriest is the unquestioned leader of the Crimson Tide linebacker, but other players such as Xzavier Dickson, Reggie Ragland and Reuben Foster have enjoyed fast starts in 2014. Linebackers have always been strong under Saban and Kirby Smart and it appears that won’t be changing any time this season.

Advantage: Alabama –  With DePriest as the quarterback of the defense and other playmakers like Dickson, Ragland and Foster in the middle of that 3-4 defense, the Alabama linebackers are among the best in the SEC.

Secondary

For the Gators secondary, look no further than cornerback Vernon Hargreaves. He’s only a sophomore, but he’s widely considered the league’s best cover corner and possibly the best corner in college football. After Hargreaves, the talent isn’t as great, but they are very capable of being one of the better secondaries in the SEC. Junior Brian Poole has looked great so far as the opposite starting corner, creating havoc off of several corner blitzes and racking up 10 tackles and two QB hurries. At safety, the Gators struggled against Kentucky with a few instances of broken assignments by Jabari Gorman and Keanu Neal, but Muschamp acknowledged all of those problems are easily correctable. Neal is also one of the hardest-hitting safeties in the SEC, so he’ll definitely be a factor on Saturday for those Alabama wideouts.

Alabama’s secondary is struggling through some injuries and a suspension in preparation for their game against the Gators. Defensive backs Jarrick Williams and Eddie Jackson are both hurt and while Jackson may play, he definitely won’t be 100 percent. Safety Nick Perry will be serving a one-half suspension thanks to a targeting foul last week, which will force the secondary to rotate in more unproven players than Saban probably prefers. Landon Collins is a monster at strong safety so he’ll be crucial to the secondary’s success on Saturday. Tony Brown is expected to get a lot of reps in lieu of the injuries. While Brown is extremely talented, there’s no telling how the true freshman will respond in his first SEC action.

Advantage: Florida – I think the presence of Vernon Hargreaves makes a huge difference in this game. Plus, with the Gators additional depth behind Hargreaves gives them a good chance at limiting the Crimson Tide’s passing attack.