Former Florida football coach Urban Meyer shows no bias by saying the Gators are a threat to Alabama.
With the Florida Gators getting past the SEC East rival Georgia Bulldogs down in Jacksonville last week, Florida has essentially punched its ticket to the conference title bout. Meeting them in Atlanta will be the presumptive SEC West winner Alabama Crimson Tide. Florida has an explosive offense, but Meyer views his former team as a legitimate threat to the Crimson Tide this season.
“I think Florida had the biggest win of Dan Mullen’s career down there at Georgia,” said Meyer on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff on Saturday morning. “Huge win. They’re playing well. Their defense is starting to get back together. They have to stay focused. Can you sustain success?”
“What’s that mean? You have to go play Arkansas. Arkansas can beat you. That’s the thing about the SEC top to bottom, if you don’t show up ready to go, you can lose that game. But we found a legit threat to Alabama.”
Can Florida take down Alabama for the SEC championship?
Meyer was right in that last Saturday was the biggest win of Dan Mullen’s brief tenure in Gainesville. Keep in mind the Gators have gone to back-to-back New Year’s Six bowls since hiring Meyer’s protege away from the Mississippi State Bulldogs ahead of the 2018 season. Mullen has the offense humming with Kyle Trask at quarterback, but Todd Grantham’s defense is an issue.
No doubt beating Georgia was huge, but this team has already lost on the road to the Texas A&M Aggies because Grantham’s defense could not stop a nosebleed. If Georgia was not so inert in the passing game and not as banged up on the defensive side of the day, Florida would have gotten a better game out of the Dawgs. Florida could lose a bad one to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The most important thing for the Gators is to not screw up between now and the SEC Championship game. This is the not same old, sorry Arkansas team of yesteryear. Sam Pittman’s team comes ready to play. They are well-coached with Kendal Briles as the offensive coordinator and Barry Odom as the defensive coordinator. There is also a familiar face on the Arkansas team.
Former Gators starting quarterback Feleipe Franks is Pittman’s signal-caller in his first year in Fayetteville. This game on Saturday night is very important to him. Though Arkansas is not quite ready to upset a national title-contending team in Florida, the Hogs are certainly a top-half team in the SEC already under Pittman. Therefore, Florida must take this one game at a time in 2020.
Florida may give Alabama a game, but Meyer’s inherent bias was on full display Saturday morning.
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