Tide-Gators game features receivers showdown

photo Alabama junior receiver Amari Cooper leads the nation with 33 catches and doesn't believe anyone can cover him one-on-one.

Saturday's football game between Alabama and Florida at Bryant-Denny Stadium will pair programs that have combined for five of the past eight national championships.

There is the student-teacher relationship, with Florida coach Will Muschamp having served as a defensive assistant for Alabama counterpart Nick Saban when Saban guided LSU and the Miami Dolphins. Then there is the receiving showdown between the Gators' Demarcus Robinson and Alabama's Amari Cooper, which has everyone associated with this game at least somewhat fixated.

"They both have some length to them, and I think their catch radius is off the charts," Muschamp said this week. "Both guys can go and get the football in a lot of different areas. They catch the ball off their body, and for bigger guys, they both change direction extremely well. Both guys run through contact extremely well.

"I think there are some similarities in both players, but Amari is a guy who has been at Alabama longer than Demarcus has been here and has certainly sustained his consistency in performance."

Cooper is easily the more proven of the two, with the 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior from Miami having earned Freshman All-America honors in 2012. He was the first Alabama freshman receiver to amass 1,000 yards in a season, and he rebounded from an injury-riddled sophomore year by closing with 15 catches for 299 yards in the final two games against Auburn and Oklahoma.

Picking up where he left off, Cooper has a nation-leading 33 receptions for 454 yards through three games and a streak of five consecutive 100-yard games. He has eight more receptions than Alabama's other receivers -- Christion Jones, DeAndrew White, Chris Black, ArDarius Stewart and Robert Foster -- combined, though White did miss the past two games with a shoulder separation.

"We're really trying to feature the players that we have," Saban said. "So far, in what we've tried to do, it's been effective and worked, and a lot of it has gone through Amari Cooper."

Robinson did not have an immediate impact at Florida, collecting just five catches for 23 yards last season on an injury-ravaged offense that went through three quarterbacks. The 6-1, 205-pounder from Fort Valley, Ga., was suspended the final two games for rules violations, and he was suspended for this year's opener against Idaho, which wound up being canceled due to thunderstorms.

In the 65-0 win over Eastern Michigan that commenced the season for the Gators, Robinson caught eight passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. He followed that with 15 catches for 216 yards and two scores in last week's 36-30 triple-overtime survival of Kentucky.

"I've always been comfortable with Demarcus," Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel said this week in a news conference. "He's a guy who can get open and make people miss, and that's something you want as a receiver. He's going to have to continue to develop and make big plays."

Said Saban: "He's one of the top guys in the country, and they're a much-improved offensive football team."

Cooper and Robinson will be facing defensive backfields Saturday that have not exactly been team strengths. Alabama yielded 356 passing yards to West Virginia's Clint Trickett in the season opener, and the Tide will enter Saturday with cornerback Eddie Jackson (quad) and safety Jarrick Williams (foot) hobbled and with safety Nick Perry having to sit out the first half due to a targeting call.

Florida's secondary is highlighted by cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, who earned third-team All-America honors last season as a freshman, but the Gators have been inconsistent overall in their last line of defense.

"We need to improve, whether it's playing in the slot or at safety or at corner, and really across the board," Muschamp said. "I thought [junior cornerback] Brian Poole, who had the one fade ball on our sideline that was a well-thrown ball, played well against Kentucky. Vernon also played well, but past that we need to make huge improvements in the secondary."

The likely dueling of Cooper and Hargreaves will be new for the Tide star, who admitted that defensive backs so far have been playing off him. Cooper added that facing press coverage will be good for him, and he described Hargreaves as a "ball hawk" who goes up for the ball like a receiver.

It's a matchup Cooper does not expect to lose.

"I don't believe that there is anybody who can cover me one on one," Cooper said, "simply because I've been playing receiver for so long."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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