The Inside Blitz - Tide Rolls and Gator Bites
Matty Baiungo
Posted: 2009-12-05
Matty B ' s SEC Championship Blitz: Here are a couple of tidbits on the biggest game of the weekend, Florida vs. Alabama for the SEC title and a spot in the national title game.

Lane Kiffin has spoken. He said that Florida has the better players while Alabama has the better coaches. Not by much, but by a hair. Saban almost won last year ' s title game. Now he ' s another recruiting class closer to matching Meyer ' s talent level.

Tide Rolls: Running back Mark Ingram took a vicious shot to his hip last week. But there ' s no doubt that he ' ll be in the lineup in this game. But Alabama also has a sensational freshman that is smaller and speedier. Trent Richardson is quick and he ' ll challenge Florida ' s speed on the outside.

Javier Arenas is a dangerous return man. You hardly hear about him because Florida has Brandon James. But Arenas is just as explosive, and in a game that figures to be a defensive battle, a guy like Arenas can have a big impact on how the game plays out.

Going back to 1997, Nick Saban coached teams have been underdogs in 41 games. He ' s 23-18 against the spread in the underdog role, and out of those 23 spread wins, his team won the game straight-up 19 times. Alabama on the moneyline isn ' t the worst bet you can make this weekend.

Gator Bites: What was Carlos Dunlap thinking? Picking up a charge for DUI on the week of the biggest game of the season is pure stupidity. It ' s nothing but a distraction, and nonsense like this just cannot be good. Alabama knows that all too well after their fiasco with Andre Smith prior to their Sugar Bowl loss to Utah last year.

Can Tebow match the emotional high he had last week? I really don ' t think so. As much as these talking heads like to think he ' s some kind of magical creature, the kid is still a human being. It ' s going to be extremely difficult for Tebow (and the rest of the seniors) to reach that high this week. They ' ve already been here and done that so to speak after winning both the SEC and national championship last year.

Florida will need to throw the ball in order to win this game. Alabama has only allowed three teams to rush for more than 95 yards this year. So Tebow ' s passing will be key, but against good defenses, he ' s shown no ability to throw the ball well. He had 115 yards against Tennessee, 134 on LSU, and 199 on South Carolina.

Matty B ' s NFL Turnover Turnarounds: Our + 4 and + 5 turnover strategy had no qualifying plays last week. And once again, we ' re dark this week. But after back-to-back empty weeks, it ' s a good bet we ' ll see at least a couple of qualifying plays next week.