Steve Spurrier outlines what needs to happen for Florida to beat Alabama
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Florida hasn’t had much luck competing against Alabama on the field in that last two SEC Championship Games. Last season, the Gators started strong, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead, only to lose the game by a 54-16 margin. The year prior, Florida lost to Alabama 29-15 in a game that featured 15 rushing yards on 21 carries and a pitiful third-down conversion rate of 0-for-11 for the Gators offense.
After being outclassed in each of the last two meetings, and in the last six meetings overall, former Florida head coach Steve Spurrier recently talked about what it’s going to take for the Gators to finally beat Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. During his Friday appearance on Sirius Radio’s College Sports, the Head Ball Coach said it all comes down to the offense catching up to the defense in Gainesville.
“When our offense catches up with the defense, we’ll be able to beat Alabama.” @SteveSpurrierUF
— SXM College Sports (@SiriusXMCollege) May 5, 2017
If Florida can finally get some consistent quarterback play for the first time in the Jim McElwain era, whether it comes from a healthy Luke Del Rio or redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks, the offense in Gainesville should be running at an all-time high under the third-year Gator coach. With a mix of talent and experience on the offensive line, receivers Antonio Callaway, Tyrie Cleveland, Brandon Powell, and Josh Hammond — not to mention tight end DeAndre Goolsby, combined with running backs Jordan Scarlett, Lamical Perine, and Mark Thompson, the Gators should have plenty of offensive firepower to work with next season.
With so many options to work with on offense, the real issue for Florida next season is likely going to revolve around finding answers on defense — something the program has been very successful at in recent seasons. Spurrier may be right, but if the offense progresses and the defense regresses too much, the Gators may have an entirely new issue on its hands when potentially playing Alabama in Atlanta for the third consecutive season.
Here’s the complete audio from Spurrier’s interview:
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
