2008 SEC Championship: Alabama (12-0) vs Florida (11-1)

By WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

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Will Percy play? That is by far the big story line heading into Saturday afternoon’s SEC Championship Game between Alabama and Florida at the Georgia Dome, with the Gators currently 10-point favorites.

Florida’s running and receiving threat is a major question mark as of this writing. Percy Harvin sprained his ankle in last week’s win over Florida State and has been receiving treatment for upwards of 10 hours a day all week in addition to wearing a walking boot.

Harvin is officially listed as questionable, but the plan is for the Gators to see how he fares running on grass Friday afternoon. If he comes through that OK, they will have him run again Saturday before game time to test the ankle again. But it looks like he will be a game-time decision.

“I won’t put a stopwatch on him or anything,” UF coach Urban Meyer said. “If he can play, he’ll play.”

Harvin leads UF with 35 receptions for 595 yards and seven touchdowns. He also is second on the team in rushing, with 538 yards and nine touchdowns.



Meanwhile, the team’s leading rusher, RB Chris Rainey (654 yards), has been dealing with a groin injury that may require surgery at season’s end. He limped off the practice field Thursday, but Meyer said it won’t affect him in the game.

Meyer said the team will have two game plans for Saturday, with or without Harvin. He also hinted of having tailbacks Rainey and Jeffrey Demps taking a few direct snaps out of the backfield if Harvin can’t go or is limited.

Whether Harvin plays or not, this should be a great matchup.

Since the loss to Ole Miss in late September, the Gators have won their last eight games by a combined score of 414 to 96. No one has come closer than 30 points of beating them. The Tide had been playing close games in midseason and needed overtime to beat LSU, but the four other games in the last five were blowouts with Bama beating Tennessee, Arkansas State, Mississippi State and Auburn by a combined score of 132 to 16.

The Tide average 201.5 yards per game on the ground behind Glen Coffee (102.9 yards per game, nine TDs) and Mark Ingram (56.7, 11 TDs). They hold the ball for nearly 33 minutes per game, ranking in the top 10 in the country. QB John Parker Wilson has nine touchdowns to only five interceptions and is averaging just 160 yards per game through the air.

The Gators, meanwhile, rank 12th nationally against the run and 17th against the pass. Florida also makes big plays on defense, forcing 32 turnovers and ranking No. 1 in the country in turnover margin.

Florida, not Alabama, leads the SEC in rushing. UF is only team in Division I-A with four 500-yard rushers this season (Rainey 654, Harvin 538, Jeff Demps 529, Tim Tebow 507). Led by Terrence Cody, Alabama has the nation’s No. 3 overall defense (248.5 yards per game) and No. 2 against the run (73.5 ypg).

UF’s Tebow has 17 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns in that span, and he’s a major upgrade at QB over the Tide’s Wilson. Tebow, whether Harvin plays or not, will be the difference Saturday.

This will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between SEC teams.

Bet on the 2008 SEC Championship Game