SEC EAST TITLE AT STAKE SATURDAY IN THE SWAMP

As a former Florida quarterback, Heisman Trophy Award winner, and national champion head coach of the Gators, Steve Spurrier has his name among those in the ring of honor in "The Swamp", Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.  But, for about three hours this Saturday night Spurrier and his South Carolina Gamecocks will be the opponent as 90,000-plus Florida fans yell, cheer and scream for their Gators to beat Spurrier and, thus, capture the SEC eastern division crown.  The winner of this battle will go on to play for the SEC championship in Atlanta the first week of December.  If nothing changes between now and then Auburn would be the opposition, as they currently sit atop the western division.

As much as it makes for endless amounts of mediocre copy for a lot of writers this game isn't about Steve Spurrier and it's not about Gator Coach Urban Meyer.  But, IT IS all about the players on both teams who have prepared since last winter's off-season training to play for a shot at the SEC title.

 Florida uncharacteristically lost three games in a row before getting a bye week and then righting the ship to beat Georgia in overtime two weeks ago and Vanderbilt in a glorified scrimmage last week.  South Carolina is trying to avert another November swoon under Spurrier.  Last week they were out-played from the opening kickoff and rolled over by Arkansas, 41-20, at home.  They also stumbled a few weeks ago against a mediocre Kentucky team, the very next week after they had upset then #1-ranked Alabama! 

Florida's defense, although not as physically dominating as past editions, is still near the top of SEC defensive categories thanks to their overall athletic ability and speed to chase down opposing ball carriers.  They started the first half of the year gathering a bushel full of turnovers before slowing down slightly in that department, but they are very capable of taking the ball away, and that will be critical to help set up the Gator offense with good field position.  Florida's offense has gone through a re-birth, or maybe just a birth.  Despite chalking up four straight wins to start the year the Gator offense never looked smooth.  It sputtered along trying to find an identity in a world without Tim Tebow.  After losses to heavyweights Alabama and LSU, followed by a 10-7 punch in the gut loss to Miss. St. in Gainesville, it was back to the drawing board for Florida during a bye week.  The Gators rolled out an offense that featured three potential QBs all in the game at the same time, keeping defensive coaches guessing as to who would take the snap from center.  If it was John Brantley, the regular starter, chances are he would not run the ball, but he was a threat to pass or hand off.  If it was Trey Burton, there was slim chance of pass, but a heavy tendency for him to run the ball.  Then, add in Jordan Reed, a former QB-turned TE-turned part-time QB.  He did both incredibly well last week vs. Vandy, thus further muddying the waters for the opponent's defensive game plan.  If you haven't seen it, all three possible QBs are in the game and they shift in and out of the QB position just prior to the snap from center.  As gimmicky as it seems, it has worked, and that's all that matters when you are expected to compete for championships at Florida.

South Carolina was motoring along this year because Spurrier added a legitimate run threat in true freshman Marcus Lattimore.  That was exactly what the Gamecocks needed to keep people from gearing up to stop Spurrier's passing game.  With the threat of run, the ability to play-action off of that, and still use "the old ball coach's" deep passing playbook the Gamecocks had it rolling. The very gifted young Lattimore has been dinged up a bit lately and was held to less than 50 yards a week ago by Arkansas.  That puts more pressure on SC QB Stephen Garcia.  Garcia has turned it around this year by reducing his turnovers which used to cause Spurrier to fling his visor to the ground way too often.  Alshon Jeffery is an outstanding talent at wide receiver and a tough match-up for the Gator secondary.  The SC offensive tackles will have their hands full trying to handle Florida's pass rush, so they need to be able to create some running lanes to off-set that situation.

The Gamecocks are struggling in the defensive secondary.  Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson tried to simplify things a bit for Arkansas due to having to play some inexperienced people back there, but they still had issues against such a strong passing attack from Ryan Mallett and his Razorback crew.  Florida doesn't have the overall pass attack to worry about like Arkansas, but the multiple quarterback system, threat of option, and QBs who can both run and pass could cause the Gamecock defense to suffer breakdowns simply due to getting the right calls made, communicating it before the snap, then having to adjust on the fly.

This has the makings of an outstanding game and everyone can see it--ESPN 7:15 EST Saturday night.  If I were a betting man, and I am not, I have to go with the Gators, especially at home.  Enjoy the game.