The Gators made a statement early Saturday, following an opening play false start penalty with a 65-yard touchdown pass from redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Andre Debose to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Crimson Tide answered back immediately, ending a 12-play, 52-yard drive with a field goal. Florida hit a field goal on their ensuing possession, and Alabama responded with Richardson’s first score of the game, tying the contest at 10-10 with just seconds left the first quarter.

That is when the momentum changed.

On the Gators’ next possession, Brantley was faced with a third-and-four from Florida’s 49-yard-line. Rather than throwing the ball away after sensing heavy pressure, he tossed it right into linebacker Courtney Upshaw’s hands. Upshaw returned it 45 yards for a touchdown, putting the Crimson Tide ahead for the first time.

Alabama added to their lead two possessions later, ending a 10-play, 61-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run by QB A.J. McCarron.

UF threatened on their next possession, moving the ball from their own 33 to UA’s 13. Brantley was then sacked on consecutive snaps. He was pushed back 22 yards and stayed on the field long after his second sack. He wound up being carried back to the locker room with an injured right leg, and redshirt junior kicker Caleb Strugis failed to connect on a 52-yard field goal, his first miss of the season.

Brantley did not return to the game after suffering his injury, leaving freshman QB Jeff Driskel to carry the load. The Gators’ first three possessions of the second half began deep in their own territory on their seven-, 16- and nine-yard line, respectively. Five of Florida’s second half possessions resulted in a punt; the other was a fumble by Driskel.

The Crimson Tide added two more rushing scores in the second half – both in the fourth quarter by Richardson and RB Eddie Lacy – and ran out the clock as the Gators was unable to move the ball.

Alabama outgained Florida 366-222 in total yardage and 226-15 on the ground. Running backs redshirt senior Chris Rainey (11 carries for four yards) and senior Jeff Demps (three carries for four yards) were made a non-factor in the contest.

Brantley finished 11/16 for 190 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but his absence in the second half appeared to give the Gators absolutely zero confidence offensively. Florida held McCarron to just 12/25 passing for 140 yards, but he was able to move the ball and earn first downs when necessary.

Things do not get any easier for the Gators next week as they travel to Baton Rouge, LA to face No. 1/2 LSU. The game will air live on CBS at 3:30 p.m.

FLORIDA
» Active: Redshirt sophomore tight end Jordan Reed (lower body), redshirt sophomore wide receiver Andre Debose (unknown)
» Inactive: Redshirt junior cornerback Jeremy Brown (knee)
» To be determined: Redshirt freshman defensive end Lynden Trail (performance)

ALABAMA
» Inactive: Starting LB C.J. Mosely (elbow)

PLAYERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON

FLORIDA
» Redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley (#12)…who has completed 64.0 percent of his passes (55-of-86) this season for 752 yards and four touchdowns but also threw two interceptions in the season opener against Florida Atlantic. Brantley turned the ball over three time in last year’s loss against Alabama.
» Redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey (#1)…who has 625 yards of total offense this season with five touchdowns (including a punt block return). Rainey is averaging 6.5 yards per carry and 19.5 yards per reception and leads Florida in rushing and receiving this season. He became the first player in school history to have a rushing, receiving and return touchdown in the same game, achieved the school and SEC record for career punt blocks (five), and is the active leader in that category nationally. He has also rushed for 100 yards or more in three-straight games, the first UF player to do so since Fred Taylor last accomplished that feat 14 years ago.
» Senior RB Jeff Demps (#28)…who has averaged 9.4 yards per carry so far this year including a career-high 157 last week. After sitting out most of the team’s second game, Demps now has 320 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this season. He also has the second-most receptions (nine) and fifth-most receiving yards (70) on the team this year. Demps eclipsed the 2,000-yard career rushing mark against Florida Atlantic.
» Sophomore “RB” Trey Burton (#8)…who is the team’s most versatile player and proved that fact last year, scoring 12 touchdowns as a true freshman including 11 on the ground. Burton will line up all over the field for the Gators and could be found as a running back, fullback, H-back, tight end or wide receiver. He has already scored four touchdowns this season and has totaled 135 yards on 22 total touches.
» Sophomore safety Matt Elam (#22)…who is the most valuable member of Florida’s secondary in only his second year. He is tied for second on the Gators in tackles (17) and has created turnovers in three-straight games (fumble, interception, interception).
» Defensive tackles sophomore Dominique Easley (#2) and redshirt senior Jaye Howard (#6)…who have solidified the interior of one of the Gators’ strongest units. Howard is the team’s most experienced player on defense (21 starts), while Easley may be its most dynamic off the snap, with a first-step raved about by teammates and coaches alike. Howard and Easley have combined for 5.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks (Howard) through the first four games.
» Linebackers junior Jon Bostic (#52) and redshirt sophomore will linebacker Jelani Jenkins (#3)…who are 1-2 on the team in tackles. Bostic (26) and Jenkins (17) have eached excelled in different areas for Florida. The former has three tackles for a loss and two sacks while the latter has one sack and four pass breakups on the year.
» Sophomore Buck LB Ronald Powell (#7)…who is tied for a team-high with 2.0 sacks and forced two interceptions via quarterback pressures against Tennessee. Powell has nine tackles on the season including two for losses.
» Redshirt junior Sam LB Lerentee McCray (#34)…who is starting for the first time in his career and is second on the team in tackles for loss with 3.5. He also has two pass breakups and eight total tackles.
» Redshirt junior kicker Caleb Sturigs (#19)…who returns for Florida after missing the final eight games of the 2010 season with an injured back. He is perfect this year on 11 field goal attempts (long: 51) and 18 extra points, leading the nation in both categories while leading the Gators with 51 points scored this season.

ALABAMA
» RB Trent Richardson (#3)…who is one of the best players at his position in the nation and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry this season. Richardson has rushed for at least 111 yards in three-straight games and started the season with eight rushing touchdowns through three contests.
» RB Eddie Lacy (#42)…who is Richardon’s back-up but is playing just as well this year. Lacy is averaging 8.9 yards per rush and has four touchdowns on the ground this year. He has only carried the ball 41 times but has amassed 365 yards already this year.
» QB A.J. McCarron (#10)…who (like Brantley) has thrown four touchdowns this season but posted two interception in Alabama’s season opener against Kent State. McCarron is completing 66.3 percent of his passes and threw for two touchdowns last week against Arkansas in his best performance of the young season.
» WR Marquis Maze (#4)…who is the Crimson Tide’s leading receiver but has fallen relatively silent over the last few weeks. Maze posted 118 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions in the season opener but has caught 12 balls for just 108 yards since. He is also the team’s punt returner and already brought back one for a score this year.
» LB Dont’a Hightower (#30)…who is one of the most feared defenders in college football this year. He is his team’s leading tackler with 25 on the season (4.5 for loss) and will be charged with ensuring Florida’s running backs do not reach the second level.

CBS SPORTS VIDEO PREVIEW

Since he took the helm at Florida, Muschamp has preached “taking care of the state of Florida” when it comes to recruiting, ensuring that the Gators get the best players in-state before targeting players nationally. He said that will not change with another team and a large recruiting base being added to the Southeastern Conference.

“That’s where we’re going to win championships, with players from the state of Florida,” he said. “That’s where we recruit first and then after that the southeast regions, the ties that our assistant coaches have in certain areas obviously, and then nationally looking at some guys we think can come in and make a difference.”

He also noted that, just because Texas A&M has joined the SEC does not mean Texas high school football players will suddenly have more of a reason to leave the state.

“Having worked in the state of Texas, a lot of those guys growing up in Texas want to be Longhorns and some of them want to be Aggies and Oklahoma has always done a good job in the Dallas-Fort Worth and East Texas area,” he said. “If there’s an attachment to Florida with a young man from the state of Texas, we’ll certainly recruit him if they’re athletically and academically what we’re looking for. I do think [recruiting will] open up a little bit, but I don’t think you’ll see a huge change of guys all of a sudden leaving the state of Texas to go to different places.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» Muschamp reiterated in his opening statement that the entire team is healthy except for redshirt junior cornerback Jeremy Brown, who will neither dress nor play on Saturday.

» Muschamp on if he’s pleased where Florida is through four games: “Well exactly. We’re 4-0. That’s where we wanted to be. I approach the season a little differently. It’s a series of one-game seasons. This week, this is our game, this is our season. Next week it’ll change. I just focus on the opponent and the task at hand throughout the week and the preparation that we need to have to do a good job and make good decisions on game day. I don’t really look at the total part until it’s over with as far as the season is concerned. Where we are right now is where we wanted to be. We wanted to be 4-0 at this point and that’s where we are.”

» Muschamp on throwing the ball this week: “You’ve got to be multiple against Alabama. You’re not going to be one-dimensional and have success. You have to stay balanced in what you do in both the run and pass and be effective and efficient in both areas.”

» Muschamp on Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron: “I think he’s been very efficient. He’s only had two interceptions so far this season. He’s taking the ball to the right spots.”

» Muschamp on Alabama RB Trent Richardson: “He’s an outstanding player and has got a low center of gravity, great balance, great vision. He’s a one-cut guy. When he sees the hole and gets it going north and south, he gets the ball downhill. You hardly do not see any negative run plays with him. He’s always moving the chains in a positive direction for their team. You got to gang tackle this guy. You’re not going to get him down single-handedly a lot of the time. We need to do a good job with eyes on the ball and leveraging the football the right well and tackle well and wrap and get him down which, at times in the secondary, we’ve been very average.

» Muschamp on the budding Florida-Alabama rivalry: “Both programs – the tradition speaks for itself as far as the championships and the tradition and the history of the two programs. I’m just looking forward to playing in the Florida-Alabama game Saturday night.”

ALABAMA HEAD COACH NICK SABAN

» Saban on going up against Florida: “This is the biggest challenge we’ve had all year which also makes it the greatest opportunity for our team in terms of playing a really good Florida team that has played extremely well in the first four games. Will has done a great job there from a discipline, execution and technique standpoint. Their guys are playing hard, and we’re certainly going to have to match that intensity on the road and get the kind of execution that we need and play smart so that we give ourselves a chance to play winning football. This is going to be a real test and a real challenge for us.”

» Saban on his first meeting with Muschamp: “Sometimes you just meet somebody and you really get a good feel for them. Will was a real good person, real genuine. You could tell he was hard-working and had a special intensity about him in terms of what he wanted to do. And a passion for football and how important it was to him. That first impression really held true in this case. It is pretty obvious based on the career he’s had and what he’s done so far as a head coach that all those things are correct.”

» Saban on how Gators redshirt senior QB John Brantley is playing this year: “I think he’s playing extremely well. I think he’s so far has taken what the defense gives and we certainly feel like he has the capacities to throw the ball down the field. A lot of what they’ve done to this point has been to utilize some of the playmakers that they have, which are two really, really good running backs who have great speed and explosive ability. They’ve gotten the ball to them a lot of different ways, and I think that’s probably good coaching on their part to take advantage of that. I do think they have capable receivers, good athletic tight ends, and John Brantley is certainly capable of throwing the ball down the field. There’s no lack of their respect for their ability to do that on our part.”

» Saban on how much change he sees from Florida this year: “I think [they are] significantly different. There’s not the zone read option-type basis for what they do. It’s more ‘pro-style’ in terms of they run a lot of sweeps and some direct runs with these guys. They do a good job upfront. The drop-back passing game is certainly a lot different in style in terms of what they’ve done in the past. To me there’s not many similarities.”

“You have to play sound, fundamental football and you have to go ahead and throw the kitchen sink at them now,” he said of taking on the Crimson Tide. “They’re going to get the kitchen sink. You guys have been writing about holdings things back, well you won’t have to worry about that this week. They’re going to get plenty.”

Not that it is going to be easy for Florida.

Alabama’s defense is as tough as it comes in college football this year. They are only allowing eight points per game (second in the nation) and lead the sec in total defense (184.0 yards per game), rushing defense (45.8 yards per game), passing defense (138.2 yards per game) and passing defense efficiency (74.7 percent).

Weis recognized this fact from the moment he started watching film and expressed how difficult the sledding will be for his unit.

“It’s unique when you come against a defense that is solid at every position. That doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “There’s two things you look at when you’re studying an opponent. Most people look at what they do on defense schematically. I always start with personnel. I always look for weak links in personnel – people that you can attack. This is an unusual group because they really don’t have one.

“You have your work cut out for you. We’ll show up on Saturday. We have a lot of confidence in our own ability and we realize that this will be quite the challenge and we have a lot of respect for both Alabama’s defense and their coaching staff. We have a lot of confidence in ourselves, too.”

And should the Gators’ offense not find too much success running the ball?

“Sometimes when you’re playing football, you have to realize that punting isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Weis said. “We want to score a touchdown every time we get the ball, but what you have to do is, you have to make sure you make good decisions in the game where you don’t make that critical mistake.”

Redshirt senior quarterback John Brantley (and his health after last game): “He was out there slinging it today, so that was encouraging. I told him to quit being so soft. [Smiling] Actually I think that we gave him most of the reps today. He got most of them. He’s glad that the game’s still a few days away, but I think that he’s moving along nicely. He’s really progressing nicely. He threw the ball well today.”

Redshirt freshman tight end Gerald Christian (and moving him back-and-forth from linebacker): “I knew Gerald from the first few days of training camp was a big, physical presence. We didn’t have a bunch of big, physical presence on the offensive skill position. [...] We were quite banged up at the tight end position. For him to go back-and-forth from outside linebacker to tight end, I think one thing that shows is his big, physical presence. When you can go out there and make a couple big plays in the game. [...] When you have a guy who can play offense and defense, what you have to do is figure out what gets him on the field the fastest. It really, really was a position of need. We needed him on offense; not that he wouldn’t play on defense, but we needed him more on offense than they needed him on defense. The kid’s unselfish. He didn’t care. Anywhere he had the best opportunity to help the team is where he wanted to go. I think it’s worked out.”

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Chaz Green (and his progress): “Chaz is a tackle that’s also very athletic. He has really good feet. Not only has good size but Chaz has just gotten better as the year’s gone on. He’s just gotten better and better. Remember, he’s a young pup. Everyone thinks that he’s been there for five years already. The kid’s relatively inexperienced.”

Freshman QB Jeff Driskel (and if he’s coming along): “He better because he’s second. It would be nice if he got a little bit more help in that game the other day. He’s got to take care of the ball. He can’t let 22 come in there and take the ball out of his hands. He was so worried about the pressure coming from outside off the right edge there that he got a little careless with the ball. The interception, that’s a bang-bang play. You can’t throw the ball much better than he threw the ball. I just don’t like strip-sack fumbles that lead to the only touchdown that the other team scores because ultimately we feel like we are the ones that gave them their one touchdown in the game. He runs our team well. The team’s not afraid when he’s in there. He can make every throw. Just gaining experience, that’s what he’s doing. Every time he’s out there it’s a good thing regardless of what happens because he’s just gaining experience.”

Redshirt junior wide receiver Frankie Hammond, Jr.: “Frankie has been very consistent for us. He’s been very consistent for us the whole time. He also has versatility for us because he’s one of the few guys at the receiver position that can play every position. He can line up at what we call the X, the Z, the F – he can line up at all those positions. Any time you have a player that has some position flexibility, it really helps you in this offense.”

NOTES AND QUOTES

» On if he is “happier” about the offense than he was last week: “I’m glad that we got on the road, got that kind of out of the way. It’s really tough. You got to give a lot of credit to Coach [Will] Muschamp and then the players, too. They knew what was on the horizon. We could sit there and talk ‘till we’re blue in the face. They’re going on the road for the first SEC game with a bunch of young guys that had never done it before. Everyone wants to talk about Alabama, nobody wanted to talk about Kentucky. I’m talking about outside our locker room. Will did a great job and our team showed an unusual amount of maturity for a team to not look past the opponent that they played last Saturday. For that, kudos. We ran the ball for over 400 yards. That doesn’t happen too often now. I was genuinely pleased that they didn’t go in there and look past that opponent to the one we’re playing this week.”

» On how the offense responded after not starting well against Kentucky: “We made a mistake on the third play of the first drive. We got that ironed out. We figured that one out. The second drive – they did a couple things early in the game that were a little different than they [had] been doing. Sometimes that happens, but it didn’t take long. The sign of a fairly good team on offense is when things don’t go too well right in the beginning, you figure out what the problems are and go fix them. Too many times teams wait to make halftime adjustments. Well you still had a lot of time left after those first two drives. We had a bunch of points on the board by the time we went in to halftime.”

» On if the offense has seen enough adversity up to this point: “We coach them hard. We coach them hard. We coach them hard every day. You’d hope that by the time you get to the games that the games are actually easier than the practices. Even if the scores of the game weren’t that close, you can still create a lot of situations to get your team better. That’s all behind us now. This is going to be a tough challenge for us and we’re really excited and we’re really looking forward to it.”

» On if he sees any of Bill Belichick’s methods within Alabama’s defense: “One of the first things I did this week was [say to Muschamp], “Tell me about Nick [Saban], tell me about Kirby [Smart]’ because these are his boys. I know that Nick worked for Bill back in the Cleveland [Browns] days before he moved on to Michigan State. A lot of the terminology is the same. There are a lot of things that are consistent. They have a good, sound system that I have familiarity with, but they also got really good players. Sometimes you wish that weren’t the case, but that is the case. We have to be ready to make sure that we don’t create any mismatches in the opposite direction.”

» Hunter on the defense coming together: “The offseason program that [Mickey Marotti] put us through made us come together so close, that’s paying off right now. You can see it as a defense. We’re all starting to come together a lot more now.”

» Hunter on playing on defense in The Swamp: “It’s so loud. Sometimes it’s so loud we can’t even hear each other out there so we can’t communicate. We love it though. It gets you fired up.”

» Hunter on redshirt senior Jaye Howard’s fumble catch and return for touchdown: “He has the worst hands on the team.” What about Jenkins? “[Laughing while revising his statement] Second worst hands on the team.”

» Sophomore running back Trey Burton on if he’s excited to play Alabama: “This is why you come to Florida. That’s why they go to Alabama. That’s why we come to Florida. To play in big games like this.”

» Burton on learning from offensive coordinator Charlie Weis: “It’s unbelievable. He’s unbelievably smart and a great coach. You see it every week.”

» Burton on how Weis is tough on the players during the week: “He’s all over us during practice and stuff. He just wants us to be perfect. He’ll yell at you but he won’t make it obvious he’s yelling at you. He’ll bring you aside and talk to you about it instead of screaming at you. He’s a really, really nice guy.”

“Giving the ball off to Chris and Jeff is the easiest part of the job,” he said Monday. “When they can take it to the house at any moment, [it] makes your job easier.”

With the No. 2/3 Alabama Crimson Tide set to face the No. 12 Gators on Saturday, Florida may not be able to rely on its running game as much as it has been. Throwing the ball downfield may become a priority, especially if UF gets behind early.

Muschamp is confident that the Gators will be able to do so when necessary.

“I think you got to be multiple when you play [Alabama]. You can’t be one-dimensional in what you do,” he said. “A lot of our offense has been attributed to the fact, in our first four games, three of them were in-hand by halftime. We ran the ball in order to end the game as opposed to what a lot of schools go out and throw the ball 30 times in the second half. They say, ‘Well they averaged 300 yards in the passing game.’ That’s great but that’s not really what you’re trying to do to win football games.

“John’s going to be able to throw the football. John’s outstanding. He’s played very well for us, and I’m very pleased with his progress and what he’s done and what we’ve done in the throwing game and what we’ve asked our football team to do on tape so far on Saturday. What I see in practice is a very productive passing attack.”

Brantley appears to share that mentality, but whether or not he will succeed in that mission is one of the biggest questions surrounding Florida heading into Saturday’s tilt.

“Any time we can throw the ball downfield, we will,” he said.

The Gators may be forced to do just that sooner than later.