Eastern Division Florida Gators vs Western Division Alabama

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On December 5, 2009, the Eastern Division Florida Gators will face Western Division Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. This will be the 7th time since the championship began in 1992 that Alabama and Florida had met for this game. Of the 6 match ups to date, Florida has won 4 of them.

The Gators now stand at a season record of 12-0 for the first time in school history (a previous 12-0 in 1995 included the SEC Championship game) and 12-0 overall for only the second time. They're standing now at 22 consecutive wins, giving them the nation's best and the school record for consecutive wins. It's the 4th best record in SEC history, and the longest winning streak in SEC in the past decade and a half. It's also the 3rd longest in the entire nation over the last decade.

The senior Gators are also the winning-est in SEC history, with a 47-6 record. Last week's game was a season best for senior quarter Tim Tebow, who left the field to a standing ovation, tears from him and the crowd, and a hug from coach Meyer. Fans wore black eyepatches to honor his time as a Gator. It was the last game on his home field.

Tebow's final game at home ended with a decisive 37-10 victory over rivals Florida State. The Gators defeated the Seminoles in their previous 2 matchups and it was widely expected that they'd win Saturday.

Last year, the matchup between Florida and the Crimson Tide in this game had the Gators behind by 3 points in the final period, but they turned it around in the 4th quarter to win the SEC Championship. Tebow's rushing and a pass to Riley Cooper in the 4th quarter made the final score 31-20. The Gators had previously won the SEC Championship in 2006 against the Razorbacks.

The Gators are in top form, but the University of Alabama also holds a 12-0 record for this season. So Saturday's game has two undefeated teams competing for the SEC Championship. Alabama's offense is currently ranked at 13th in the country, with rushing 212.9 yards per game. Rushing defense (at 77.1 yards) and scoring defense (at 10.8 points per game) each rank #2 nationwide.

Going into this matchup, Urban Meyer, Gators coach has a 32-8 record, the number 1 career SEC win percentage of coaches who've been in the SEC 5+ years. And Alabama coach Frank Thomas is ranked number three.

Top performing Gators last week will have all eyes on them during this tough matchup. Riley Cooper, Jeff Demps, Carlos Dunlap, Joe Haden and Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Hicks, Ryan Stamper and of course, Tim Tebow, have been responsible for the majority of scoring plays and shut outs. All eyes will be on the Gators to see if they can pull out a 23-0 winning streak against a team that's ranked as high in the Western Division, for the SEC championship and another feather in departing Tebow's cap.

The game is at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Photo Credits: Core37

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Gators to Play Florida State Seminoles

fsuThe undefeated Gators will face the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, November 28th, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.  The match-up looks to be a challenge for Florida State, which stands at 6-5 for the season. Their last game was against Maryland and gave them a 29-26 victory, putting their winning streak at 5 games.

The Gators have the best record in the country, however, and have set a Gators record, at 21 consecutive wins under coach Urban Meyer in his 5th year at the University of Florida. This marks the longest SEC winning streak in 15 years, and the third longest in the United States in the last 10 years. It's also the 4th longest SEC winning streak in its history. The Gators 21 game winning streak includes 11 undefeated games this season, putting them at 11-0 for only the second time in Gators history, the last being in 1995.

After the November 21st game against FIU, which the Gators took at 62-3, their seniors became the class with the most wins in SEC history. Gator seniors have an impressive 46-6 game record. Overall, the scoring was spread among 8 players, with quarterbacks Tim Tebow and John Brantley responsible for completing 26 passes for over 360 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Tebow managed a career-long touchdown run of 55 yards in the game.

Other notable plays of the game were made by running back Chris Rainey who scored twice, linebacker Brendon Spikes who scored on a 410 yard interception return, and Deonte Thompson who led receivers with 66 yards and 5 catches.

Gators didn't just score impressively on Saturday, but their defense was in top form.  Jaye Howard was the defensive leader. He shared a sack with Lawrence Marsh and managed 7 tackles. Two linebackers, Ryan Stamper and Dustin Doe, each managed one sack each.

The stopped the first 5 conversion attempts in the game against FIU on Saturday. Before that, they stopped the last 8 against South Carolina, putting them at 13 consecutive 3rd down conversion attempts halted. It's the second time they've stopped more than 12 consecutive conversion attempts. Earlier in the season they managed to block 18 consecutive attempts. In the game against FIU, they allowed only 53 rushing yards and one field goal kick. It was also the 4th game in which the Gators didn't allow any turnovers.

The Seminoles' quarterback, Christian Ponder, is out for the season because of an injury, but his replacement, E. J. Manuel, has managed 430 yards and 33 of 51 passes. Jermaine Thomas as also managed 7 touchdowns in 690 rushing yards. FSU's defensive numbers are good, as well, with top defensive linemen Nigel Bradham at 76 tackles, Markus White at 10.5 sacks and Ochuko Jenije with 4 interceptions this season.

The Gators have defeated the Seminoles in their last two match-ups, scoring 45 points each year against only 12 by Florida State in 2007 and 15 points in 2008. The upcoming game against Florida State will be the last game of the regular season and the Gators' last home game.

Photo Credits: hectorir

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