#1 Alabama (2-0) at

#9 Florida (2-0)

3:30 p.m. EST
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Fla.
CBS
Alabama -15 — O/U 56.5

Nine months ago, these two teams played for the SEC Championship in Atlanta. A lot has changed since then. A lot of players who started that game are now suiting up on Sundays. The difference between how it affects both teams is that Alabama simply reloaded with its second-string, which wasn’t too far behind last year’s first-string. The Gators, meanwhile, are still struggling to cope with the loss of their two Kyles — Trask and Pitts — though the replacements haven’t cost them any games. Yet.

While the college football landscape has already been shaken quite a bit this season, Alabama is the one team that seems to be unshaken. The Tide’s defense was spot-on in week one as it handcuffed Miami’s super-talented quarterback, D’Eriq King, holding him to just 179 passing yards and forcing two interceptions. Meanwhile, Alabama’s quarterback, Bryce Young, has Bama fans saying, “Mac who?” Young has thrown for 571 yards and seven touchdowns in two games and seems more than comfortable in leading the Tide’s offense.

Florida, while winning its first two games, has shown cracks on both sides of the ball. The Gators’ defense continues to give up large chunks of yardage and currently ranks just 56th in the country in total yards and 40th in scoring defense. The problem is that the first two games were against FAU and USF — two teams that aren’t exactly top-caliber SEC opponents. The biggest culprit is a fairly porous secondary that too often seems out of position and allows opposing receivers ample room to break free for big gains.

On the other side of the ball, this year was supposed to be the Emory Jones show. To be fair, Jones has had some nice drives, but he has also been exposed frequently as a quarterback who telegraphs his throws and is slow to deliver the ball to open receivers. Florida also has an excellent stable of running backs and a superb backup quarterback — freshman Anthony Richardson. Richardson has been nothing short of dazzling in his first two games, but again, those came against lesser opponents. But compared to Jones, Richardson has appeared to be the far superior option for the Gators. Oddly, coach Dan Mullen has insisted that Jones is his starter and looks to have the junior leading the offense when the Gators take the field on Saturday.

On paper, this should be an interesting game, but based on the Gators’ early struggles in the secondary (and the loss of star linebacker Ventrell Miller for the season), it’s highly likely that Alabama’s offense will have frequent success. At the same time, Jones will almost certainly throw more than one interception (I’m expecting three), and at least two of them will lead to scores for the Crimson Tide. By the time Mullen decides to put Richardson into the game, it will already be 14-0, and it will be 24-7 at halftime. Florida will slow down Alabama in the second half, but it will be far too little and far too late. Alabama will demonstrate why it’s No. 1 — and why it’s likely that the Tide will make a return visit to the College Football Playoff.

Prediction: Alabama 41, Florida 24

Result: Alabama 31, Florida 29. Florida played inspired football and limited its mistakes, but it still made two — an interception by Jones and a missed extra point by Chris Howard. These two (plus some early shaky defense by the Gators) proved to be the difference in the game. The message to the rest of the country? If you don’t play a perfect game against the Tide, you don’t have a chance.

Record:
This week: SU – 58-15; ATS – 24-28-0; O/U – 30-21-1
Overall: SU – 147-28; ATS – 55-57-3; O/U – 54-59-2

(Results in parentheses)