Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

While the colors Florida sees on the other side of the field this Saturday will be different, the Gators may think they are playing the same opponent they faced last week when they journey into Death Valley for an afternoon game against LSU. They'll be facing a similar, power-I running game; a fast, well-coached, athletic and dominating defense from the trenches to the secondary, and a game-breaking kicking unit.

Alabama trounced Florida 38-10 last week in Gainesville, and now the Gators must face LSU's version of an SEC and national powerhouse without starting quarterback John Brantley, who injured his leg in the second quarter against the Tide. Alabama had already begun exerting its dominance on the Gators when Brantley went out for good, but in the early going Brantley had Florida gamely contending with a touchdown pass on the Gators' first snap and a field goal that briefly had Alabama down 10-3.

Florida Coach Will Muschamp will be taking on the nationally No. 1 Tigers with true freshman Jeff Driskel starting and true freshman Jacoby Brissett backing him up. Redshirt freshman Tyler Murphy has also been getting reps in practice behind the top two, Muschamp said Wednesday during the Southeastern Conference coaches' teleconference.

LSU is once again the national TV darling, as CBS will carry the game starting at 2:30 p.m., the fourth time LSU has been featured nationally either by CBS, ESPN or ABC this fall.

If only Muschamp, who was a defensive coordinator in the early 2000s at LSU under Nick Saban, had the quarterback luxury enjoyed now at Baton Rouge, where Jordan Jefferson is back after a four-game suspension following an arrest, and starter Jarrett Lee has settled in and been solid through five games. Jefferson, the expected starter before his arrest in an altercation outside a Baton Rouge night spot, saw action behind Lee in last week's  35-7 romp over Kentucky.

LSU Coach Les Miles didn't believe Jefferson's return would alter the Tigers' offensive chemistry, though Lee may have had his worse game last week against Kentucky while Jefferson scored a touchdown on a short run in his first game appearance of the year.

"We’ve gone in a pretty structured way," Miles said Wednesday about using both quarterbacks now. "We’re not going to change. We're going to be the same team that we've been to this point."

Muschamp, meanwhile, said all three of his quarterbacks figure. He's also figuring how to improve the Gators' run defense after Alabama and Trent Richardson hammered away at it last week. They'll see the same offense with LSU's Spencer Ware and Mike Ford getting the carries.

"I thought we had a really good practice yesterday but it has to transfer to game day," the first-year Gators coach said. "It’s about playing blocks and keeping your guy off the second level [linebackers]. Against Alabama we had too many second-level blocks. A lot of that had to do with how we were playing blocks up front and we've got to play blocks better. We've got to do a better job of striking up and delivering a hit up front and making tackles when the opportunity presents itself."

The other marquee games this week in the SEC feature Auburn at Arkansas (6 p.m. ESPN) and Georgia at Tennessee (ESPN2). Though Georgia has a loss to South Carolina, the quarterback injury at Florida could open the door for the Bulldogs to win the East, but they need to win at Knoxville.

Florida and LSU are the two winningest programs in the SEC during the last 10 season s (2002-11). The Tigers have the top mark at 97-26 (.789) and the Gators are second at 92-31 (.748). Also, Florida has the league’s top road record (41-17, .707) since 2000 while the Tigers have the best home mark during that time (68-11, .861).

Let's look this week's Power Poll: