The No. 18 Florida Gators are trying to pull off an improbable upset against No. 2 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama has a known vulnerability to up-tempo offenses, so could UF try to exploit the Crimson Tide with tempo?
“You look at what Oklahoma did (in the 2014 Sugar Bowl), they (used tempo on) them and their quarterback was unbelievable that day,” Florida coach Jim McElwain said when referencing teams that have had success against the Crimson Tide.
It’s one thing to identify Alabama’s trouble with tempo, and another thing to actually implement an up-tempo offense specifically for one game. Florida has restricted media access from practice for the week, but that’s hardly a sign of changes being made, as reporters often just see the team stretch and briefly run through a quick drill during the open period.
In terms of snaps, the Gators are one of the least active offenses – No. 81 among 128 teams – with 71.2 plays per game. When it comes to time of possession, Florida is No. 14, holding the ball for an average length of 32:58.
It’s clear that UF prefers to control the clock and play keep-away, but that doesn’t always work. In one of the Gators’ stranger box scores of the season, they had the ball longer than Florida State (32:25 to 27:35) and ran more plays (90-67), but still lost 27-2.
Even if McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier wanted to try a more up-tempo approach, it’s doubtful that Florida could run it effectively. UF QB Treon Harris has completed only 53.7 of his passes this season, and lacks the zip on shorter passes typically found from quarterbacks who operate up-tempo offenses. If the Gators fired off three quick snaps only to punt, they would be doing their defense a disservice by tiring out the wrong team.
McElwain has indicated any changes to the offense this week will be more subtle than a radically different approach like up-tempo.
“We’ve got to be multiple in our shifts and formations and try to keep them off balance,” McElwain said. “We will try to be in and out of different personnel groups so they can’t get the match on them.”
One way to keep Alabama off balance would be to use Harris as a runner. McElwain noted that running quarterbacks have had success against the Crimson Tide.
“Quarterback run has hurt these guys, if you look at it,” McElwain said. “If you look at the couple game they’ve lost over the last (few years)…A&M had this Manziel guy and they hit some trick plays and they beat them.
“Ohio State, when you look at what they did against (Alabama), the common denominator was running quarterbacks, wildcat stuff.”
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
