Game Seven: 1996 Florida Gators (12-1) vs 1999 Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3)
Tale of the tape:
'96 Florida Gators:
Points Per Game: 47
Points Allowed Per Game: 17
Avg. Margin of Victory: 34
Key wins: #9 Tennessee, #12 LSU, #24 Auburn, #3 Florida State, #11 Alabama
Losses: #3 Florida State
'99 Alabama Crimson Tide:
Points Per Game: 29
Points Allowed Per Game: 20
Avg. Margin of Victory: 13
Key wins: #12 Florida (Twice), #13 Mississippi State
Losses: UR La Tech, #9 Tennessee, #5 Michigan
Argument for Florida:
The 96 Florida team is considered by many to be the best Gator team during their exceptional 90s run. The 95 squad was amazing, but didn't get the trophy. Danny Wuerffel won the heisman with a statistically obscene season, while Reidel Anthony was a Biletnikioff finalist, and Ike Hilliard was a semi-finalist for the same award. Guys like Fred Weary and Anthone Lott held it down in the secondary, while Johnny Rutledge and Mike Peterson were mainstays at LB. Florida great Jevon Kearse was a backup, but provided significant depth. Florida would try to hit the Tide through the air early and often. Bama had weapons on offense that would certainly challenge the Gators. But like many of the Gator teams in this tournament, they embrace a challenge at the track. Look for Wuerffel to try and get it going early with Hilliard and Anthony. Also don't discount Fred Taylor and Elijah Williams' ability to get it done on the ground.
Argument for Alabama:
Believe it or not, the 99 Crimson Tide squad is the last to win the SEC Championship for Bama. The offense had ample talent in guys like Shaun Alexander, Freddie Milons, and Terry Jones Jr. The defense had a few stars as well. Eventual NFL defensive linemen Cornelius Griffen and Kindal Moorehead put plenty of pressure on the opposing offensive line. 'Bama wants to stick with their bread and butter for this one: Shaun Alexander. A touchdown making machine in college, he also had a knack for finding the end zone against Florida. The defense gave up their share of points, but the Tide got hot late in the season, and would want to ride that momentum into this one.
How it Plays Out:
Starting in typical Spurrier fashion, and opening-game trick play in the form of an onside kick from the Gators gives them the ball in Tide territory. Stunned and dejected, the Tide defense takes the field. Suprisingly, SOS plays it safe for the remainder of the drive. Back to back handoffs to Taylor, and a 3rd and 1 plunge from Elijah Williams keeps the Gator offense on the field, but yields no more yardage after that. A coffin kick away from Milons gives the Tide the daunting chore of having to go 97 yards to paydirt.
Andrew Zow walks to the huddle, stoic and seemingly unmoved by the task at hand. As expected, the drive starts with a delay give to Alexander. He carries Reggie McGrew for 4 yards. A.C. Carter takes a bubble screen for a first down and provides some breathing room for the Tide. On the subsequent 1st down, a 24 yard burst from Alexander gets the Tide going. But like UF's first drive, the Tide's movement is slowed to a crawl. A shanked punt from Bama gives the Gators decent field position at their own 39. Here is where Florida decides to flex it's offensive muscle. A quick hitter to Anthony and a screen to Taylor put the Gators in great shape. Then a perfectly executed deep post from Wuerffel to often unhearalded Jamie Richardson led to 6. A celebration penalty, however pushed the extra point attempt back, and unfortunately led to a miss.
It's the 2nd quarter. And Bama has had a hard go of it. Stalled drives led to back to back punts, and 10 more Gator points. With 3:43 left in the quarter, Bama took the ball, and must have told Alexander he was playing LSU and that it was 1996. First play from scrimmage, 29 yards off tackle. Next play 13 yard sweep. The Tide decided to ride Shaun all the way down the field, avoiding the pass completely. Shaun took the ball 6 times for 73 yards and a TD. Bama still trailed at the half 16-7.
Florida opens the 2nd half with another punshing body blow. A double reverse from the 27 yard line put the Gators on the Tide 8 yard line. Fred Taylor walked it in from there. Now late in the 3rd Quarter, the Tide is looking for answers. Andrew Zow goes to work. A 12 yard square in to A.C. Carter, a 15 yard rocket to Sam Collins, and a dump off to Terry Jones Jr gave the Tide some hope. Then Freddie Milons breaks from the huddle and gets under center with Zow split out wide. He had hoped to repeat his performance against 99 Florida. Fortunately for the Gators he didn't. He did, however, manage to squirt his way down to the 11. Two plays later, a scrambling Zow lolipops a pass to the back of the end zone where Jason Mcaddley was standing, uncovered.
With a 23-14 lead and the clock on their side, the Gators could have elected to play small ball. Spurrier considered it for about 2 plays. After two futile attempts to run conservative plays, Spurrier launched his visor at the kid holding his headset cable, and calls a pass play. This, afterall, was the 96 Gators. They don't do conservative. With the safety walking up to stop what was sure to be another Fred Taylor grinder, the Tide was left exposed in the secondary. Wuerffel went calmly through his progressions and found an open Hilliard who made Kecalf Bailey look lost. 63 yards later, end zone. A 30-14 lead with 8:21 left in the 4th all but sealed it. The Tide made a run late with a drive that ended in a TD after Shaun Alexander caught a wheel route just across the goal line. But a fumble on the final drive and a FG from Florida led to an early round exit for this Tide team.
Final Score: Florida 33 Alabama 20
Link to Bracket (possible spoiler)
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