Gene Chizik, Roman Harper look ahead to SEC Championship Game: Alabama vs. Florida
By SDS Staff
Published:
The SEC Championship Game is all but set between Alabama and Florida. The 2 explosive offenses will go head-to-head, but no doubt Alabama has the better defense of the 2 contenders.
Right now, Kyle Trask is playing the position better than Mac Jones, and Jones may be the second best quarterback in the country behind Trask. Both are playing phenomenal, and even Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are impressed.
Following the SEC’s Week 8 action, the SEC Network Final crew of Dari Nowkhah, Roman Harper, Chris Doering and Gene Chizik looked ahead to the SEC Championship Game.
Harper, the former Alabama standout and NFL defensive back, thinks Florida has the ingredients to keep up with Alabama.
“They have the quarterback and the wide receivers. They can score a lot of points offensively to keep up with Alabama’s offense, and that is how you’ll beat them — somebody who can keep up with them points-wise,” Harper said Saturday night.
Chris Doering noted that the Heisman Trophy could come down to the SEC Championship Game between Jones and Trask, “How exciting will it be if it comes down to those two quarterbacks in Atlanta playing for the SEC Championship potentially playing for the Heisman with Trask and Jones going head-to-head?”
Final Heisman Trophy votes are due on the Monday after the SEC Championship Game.
Gene Chizik noted it will be a fun game, but expressed concern (still) about Florida’s defense after a lackluster showing against Arkansas.
“If Florida’s going to be able to hang with them (Alabama), they got to improve on defense,” Chizik said. “Again, you saw tonight against Arkansas too many explosive plays, whether in the passing game or the run game. They just rear their ugly head in the wrong moments in games, and you can still see that happening.”
The weakest unit of the 2 teams is Florida’s defense. Giving up explosive plays continues to be an issue, whether it’s passing or running. Todd Grantham’s unit has improved since the start of the season, but it has to take even bigger steps before facing Alabama’s dynamic attack. Florida’s defense won’t stop Alabama even it improves drastically; however, getting enough stops for the offense will be key.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
