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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In a performance that was both sloppy and riddled with mistakes, the Florida Gators were lucky to have managed to pull out with a win this past Saturday against the Razorbacks in Arkansas thanks to a 27 yard long field goal that was made with only nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, ending the game. This field goal managed to break a tie, 20 to 20, capping the end of the game that somehow saw the Gators handling the ball over four separate times on fumbles, failing to protect Tim Tebow adequately and giving up a number of very big plays thanks to the team's defense.
