| FTBL UA vs UF: By the numbers (more than you ever dreamed of reading)

TerryP

Staff
1 Coach with SEC championships at two schools. Paul "Bear" Bryant finished atop the league standings with Kentucky in 1950, then won 13 conference championships with Alabama. Alabama's Nick Saban would become the second if the Crimson Tide beats Florida on Saturday. Saban led LSU to SEC championships in 2001 and 2003.

1 Game against a ranked opponent this season for Florida, which beat LSU 13-3 on Oct. 10 when the Tigers were No. 4 in the AP poll. Alabama has beaten four opponents that were ranked at the time of the game -- No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 22 South Carolina and No. 9 LSU.

2 Points needed by Alabama PK Leigh Tiffin to become the second-leading scorer in SEC history. Tiffin has 370 points. Jeff Hall has 371, scored for Tennessee from 1995 through 1998. Billy Bennett (Georgia, 2000-03) holds the SEC record with 409.

3 Rushing TDs scored against Florida this season, the fewest in the nation. Alabama is tied with TCU for second with five.

3.0 Yards per carry given up by the defenses of both Alabama and Florida in conference games this season. Each team has also averaged 4.7 yards per rush on offense in their conference games. Those are a little different than their figures for the entire season, figuring in the four non-conference games. Alabama is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and giving up 2.6 yards per carry for the entire season. Florida is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and giving up 2.9 yards per carry for the entire season.

4 Interceptions thrown apiece this season by Alabama and Florida, one off the national low of three accomplished by Air Force, Boise State and Navy.

6 Consecutive victories for Florida against teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll. The Gators' most recent loss to a top-10 team was a 28-24 setback to No. 1 LSU on Oct. 6, 2007. Florida started its streak with a 45-37 victory over No. 8 Kentucky on Oct. 20, 2007.

6 Previous SEC championship games for Alabama. Like Saturday's game, Florida was the opponent in each. The Gators lead 4-2 in the championship-game meetings. Saturday's championship game will be the ninth for the Gators, who are 7-2 in the contests.

7 Games against common opponents this season for Alabama and Florida. The Gators outscored the seven 215-79 while Alabama outscored them 200-75. The common opponents were Arkansas, Florida International, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee.

7 Interceptions this season for Alabama S Mark Barron, a figure that only two Crimson Tide players have exceeded. Hootie Ingram intercepted 10 passes in 1952, and Harry Gilmer picked off eight in 1946.

7 TDs given up this season during red-zone situations by Florida, the fewest in the nation. Alabama is second with eight.

10 Fewer yards given up this season by Florida than by Alabama. The Gators have yielded 2,797 yards and the Crimson Tide 2,807.

11 Years since an SEC team successfully defended the conference championship, which Florida would do if it beats Alabama on Saturday. The most recent team to win back-to-back SEC championships was Tennessee in 1997 and 1998.

11 Previous games played between Alabama and Florida when both were ranked. The higher-ranked team won six times. Alabama has a 3-3 record as the lower-ranked team.

11 of the 17 SEC championship games won by the Eastern Division's champion.

11 TDs scored against Florida this season, the fewest in the nation. Alabama is tied with Nebraska and Penn State for second with 15.

12 of the 17 SEC championship games won by the higher-ranked team. Florida is No. 1 and Alabama No. 2 heading into Saturday's title contest.

12 Victories for Alabama in the 12 games started by Greg McElroy. His counterpart in Saturday's SEC championship game, Florida's Tim Tebow, has a 34-5 record, a winning percentage of .872, fourth-best in SEC history among quarterbacks with more than one season of starting experience. Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1993-96) was 32-3-1 (.903), Buck Belue (Georgia, 1978-81) was 27-3 (.900) and John Lastinger (Georgia, 1981-83) was 20-2-1 (.891).

13 Teams that have finished the season with an 8-0 SEC record, including Alabama and Florida this season, the first time the league has had two 8-0 teams in the same year. Since the standardization of the eight-game league schedule with the SEC's split into divisions starting with the 1992 season, 10 teams have posted 8-0 conference records. The others are Alabama in 1992, Auburn in 1993, Alabama in 1994, Florida in 1995, Florida in 1996, Tennessee in 1998, Auburn in 2004 and Alabama in 2008. From the league's first season in 1933 through the 1991 season, 44 teams posted unbeaten and untied conference records -- including three in 1939. However, only three of those 44 played eight SEC games -- Tulane in 1934, Alabama in 1964 and Alabama in 1973.

15 Seasons since the SEC championship game featured a rematch from the previous year, which will happen again on Saturday. Florida beat Alabama 31-20 in last season's championship contest, and the Gators and Tide play again Saturday in the title game. Florida and Alabama opposed each other in the first three SEC title games in 1992, '93 and '94.

19 Consecutive games won by Alabama in which it makes an interception. The Crimson Tide's streak stretches to its win over Colorado in the 2007 Independence Bowl. Alabama has intercepted at least one pass in each of the past nine games.

22 Consecutive games won the Florida, the nation's longest winning streak and the longest in school history. All but one of the victories has had a margin of victory of at least 10 points. The winning streak is the fourth-longest in SEC history. The longest winning streak in SEC history is 28 games, reached by Alabama from 1978 through 1980 and achieved again by the Crimson Tide from 1991 through 1993. The third-longest SEC winning streak is 23 games, achieved by Tennessee from 1937 through 1939.

22 Consecutive games won by Alabama in which the Crimson Tide has scored first. Alabama hasn't lost a game in which it scored first since Louisiana-Monroe rallied to a 21-14 upset on Nov. 17, 2007. Since that loss, Alabama has played six games in which its opponent got on the scoreboard first, and the Tide has a 3-3 record in those games.

24 Victories for the No. 1-ranked team in 42 games against the No. 2-ranked team in The Associated Press poll. The second-ranked team has won 16 games and two games ended in ties. Saturday's SEC championship game between No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama will be the 12th 1-vs.-2 game involving an SEC team and the second involving two. Alabama is 2-2 in 1-vs.-2 games, beating No. 1 Penn State 14-7 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1979, and No. 1 Miami 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1993, and losing to No. 1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1972, and No. 2 Florida 31-20 in the 2008 SEC title game. Florida has a 3-2 record in 1-vs.-2 games. In addition to beating Alabama last season, the Gators beat No. 2 Oklahoma 24-14 in the BCS championship game on Jan. 8 and No. 1 Ohio State 41-14 on Jan. 8, 2007, in the BCS championship game. Florida lost to No. 2 Florida State 24-21 on Nov. 30, 1996, and to No. 1 Nebraska 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1996. In three 1-vs.-2 games involving SEC teams other than Alabama or Florida, No. 1 Georgia lost to Penn State 27-23 in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1983; No. 1 Tennessee defeated Florida State 23-16 in the Fiesta Bowl (the BCS championship game that season) on Jan. 4, 1999; and No. 2 LSU defeated Ohio State 38-24 in the BCS championship game on Jan. 7, 2008.

26 Consecutive games won by Florida in which the Gators scored first. Florida hasn't lost a game in which it scored first since LSU rallied for a 28-24 victory on Oct. 6, 2007. Since that loss, Florida has played seven games in which its opponent has scored first, and the Gators have a 4-3 record in those games. Under coach Urban Meyer, Florida has a 43-1 record when it scores first.

27 Field goals by Alabama place-kicker Leigh Tiffin, the most in the nation.

29 Punts by Florida this season, the fewest in the nation. The Gators have allowed 13 yards on four punt returns. Alabama's 560 punt-return yards this season rank second in the nation to Oklahoma's 652.

30 More punt-return yards for Alabama CB Javier Arenas than any other player in SEC history. Last week, Arenas broke Lee Nalley's SEC career record of 1,695 yards set at Vanderbilt from 1947 through 1949. Arenas needs 37 yards to break Wes Welker's NCAA career punt-return record of 1,761 yards set at Texas Tech from 2000 through 2003.

32 Games since Alabama allowed an opposing ballcarrier to rush for at least 100 yards. Ole Miss' BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 131 yards against the Crimson Tide in 2007, and no back has cracked 100 since, making Alabama the only team that has not allowed a 100-yarder rusher in either of the past two seasons.

34 Points scored by Alabama in every one of its victories at the Georgia Dome, where the Crimson Tide will take on Florida in the SEC championship game on Saturday. Alabama has a 3-3 record at the Georgia Dome. In its victories, the Tide beat Florida 34-7 in the 1999 SEC title game, Clemson 34-10 to kick off the 2008 season and Virginia Tech 34-24 to start this season. The three defeats were administered by Florida in the SEC championship games of 1994, 1996 and 2008. Alabama also has scored 34 points in each of its past four indoor victories: The Tide topped Miami (Fla.) 34-13 at the Superdome in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1993.

39 More yards of total offense for Florida QB Tim Tebow than any other player in SEC history. Last week, Tebow replace former Florida QB Chris Leak as the SEC's all-time leader. Leak had 11,350 yards with the Gators from 2003 through 2006.

43 Yards needed by RB Mark Ingram to become Alabama's single-season rushing leader. Ingram has run for 1,429 yards this year. Bobby Humphrey holds the Alabama record with 1,471 rushing yards in 1986.

50 SEC victories for Alabama's Nick Saban, who became the 16th coach to reach that figure when the Crimson Tide beat Auburn last week. Saban became the third coach to reach the 50-victory level this season, joining Georgia's Mark Richt and Ole Miss' Houston Nutt.

52 Games apiece played at Alabama by P P.J. Fitzgerald, G Mike Johnson and DB Ali Sharrief to tie the school record for most games played. Travis McCall (2005-08), Tarrant Lynch (1990-94) and Nick Walker (2005-08) also played in 52 Alabama games.

56 Victories over the past five seasons for Florida, tying the SEC record for most wins in a five-year span. LSU won 56 games from 2003 through 2007. The Gators, who have two games remaining, set the SEC mark for wins over two seasons last week with their 25th. Alabama in 1991-92, Tennessee in 1997-98 and Georgia in 2002-03 had 24. Last week's win over Florida State also set the record for most wins by an SEC team over three seasons with 36. Florida set the record last year with 35. Florida has 47 victories over the past four seasons, two more than any other SEC team has reached in four years.

56 TDs scored by Florida QB Tim Tebow, three more than any player in SEC history.

88 More TDs for Florida QB Tim Tebow than the next closest active player on the SEC career TD responsibility list. Tebow has a league record 140 -- 56 runs and 84 passes. Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead is next among current players with a TD responsibility total of 52.

109 Career kickoff returns for Florida's Brandon James, who last week broke the SEC record held by Mark Johnson, who returned 107 for Vanderbilt from 1986-88 and 1990.

712 Rushing yards for Alabama RB Mark Ingram -- almost exactly half of his season total of 1,429 -- gained in the four games that the Crimson Tide has played against ranked teams this year.
 
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