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Coaches impact title games
Posted: Thursday December 02, 1999 07:14 PM
If you've ever wondered how much of an impact coaches have on the game, just take a look at this coming weekend. Saturday, Florida and Alabama do battle for the second time this season, as will Nebraska and Texas. Alabama offensive coordinator Neil Callaway told me the key is which staff is able to find new ways to attack old schemes. You show up with last month's game plan, you lose. The last time the Gators and Tide played, Florida QB Doug Johnson was at his best, throwing for 309 yards and four touchdowns. But since then, Steve Spurrier has grown weary of Johnson. And Spurrier pulled a Spurrier by taking Jesse Palmer out of a redshirt year and effectively throwing the game against Florida State by rotating the two. But the reason the Gators will win this game has nothing to do with their offense. The first time around, Florida was very passive defensively and Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow ripped apart the Gators' secondary for 336 yards passing. Since then, Florida's defense has gone into attack mode. I promise you, the Gators may blitz 85 percent of the time to take the pressure off their young secondary. The Texas Longhorns have absolutely owned Nebraska, winning the last three matchups and costing the Huskers 2 chances at national championships. Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis told me a lot of teams lose to Nebraska when they get off the bus, but he says his Longhorns are in no way intmidated. Texas gives the Huskers fits because of its offensive balance. Major Applewhite is solid and combines a vertical passing game with the quick and underrated RB Hodges Mitchell. But you can run on the Longhorns' defense and Nebraska should be able to control the ball and the clock. On the other hand, the Huskers can beat themselves. They dominated Texas the first time around in every category, but had two costly fumbles inside the red zone. And Nebraska was poised to stake its claim to the Sugar Bowl, but fumbled its way to an unimpressive OT win at Colorado. The bottom line is can the Huskers hold onto the football. I think they can. Nebraska wins and gets ready for a Fiesta Bowl showdown with Tennessee. Trev Alberts is a college football analyst for CNN/SI and appears on CNN's College Football Preview, Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. ET
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