Crimson Tide, Gators seeking TDs, not FGs

ASSOCIATED PRESS

No. 2 Alabama and No. 1 Florida have bruising runners, with Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow leading powerful ground games.

They have surehanded tight ends Colin Peek and Aaron Hernandez, and big wide receivers, too.

Muscling the ball into the end zone on trips inside the opponents’ 20, the so-called red zone, should be a breeze, right?

Not necessarily.

Struggles in that area have had both teams seeing red at times going into Saturday’s Southeastern Conference championship game showdown between unbeatens.

Sure, it seems a relatively small problem to have for two teams with few weaknesses, but this game could leave little margin for error.

“That’s going to be a critical part of the game, as to who can finish in the red zone,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday. “The multiples add up between seven and three.”

They sure did in last year’s SEC title game. Florida got four touchdowns and a field goal on six red zone trips in that 31-20 win, reaching paydirt on two fourth-quarter visits.

Alabama got deep twice in the second half, driving 91 yards before settling for a short field goal, and throwing an interception inside the Gators’ 10. Seven plus seven minus three equals the final margin.

“If you have to settle for field goals in a game like this, it’s going to be tough to win,” said Tebow, the Gators’ bulldozing quarterback. “You have to come up with big plays in the red zone. When you get down there, you have to put it in for six because that makes a difference in winning and losing.

“In those final drives last year, if we settled for field goals, who knows if we win that game? “

The Gators have gotten their act together since managing just eight touchdowns in 28 red zone trips in their first five SEC games. That helped turned some potentially easy wins into tight contests. (See: Tennessee and Arkansas).

They’ve scored seven touchdowns and a field goal in nine red-zone trips the last two games against a couple of weak defense.

Alabama had mixed results in a 26-21 game against Auburn. The Tide had first down from the Tigers’ 13 on back-to-back possessions but had to settle for a pair of Leigh Tiffin field goals that left ’Bama down a point going into the fourth quarter.