When it comes to Saturday's SEC championship game, the general consensus is that No. 15 Florida (8-3, 6-2 SEC) stands little to no chance against No. 1 Alabama (12-0, 8-0).

The Gators, who have been downright anemic on offense for most of the season, started the week as 21.5-point underdogs, while Alabama has one of the SEC's best offenses and arguably the nation's most ruthless defense.

But what can Florida really do to pull off this monumental upset? Coaches from inside and outside the SEC gave us their thoughts:

OK, so Florida ranks in the bottom half of the SEC in scoring, passing, rushing and total offense. How in the world can this offense move against the nation's No. 1 defense?

“You have to tempo them sporadically throughout the game -- lure them to sleep and then start going fast again. Change the tempo throughout the game and make them be ready at all situations.” -- SEC offensive assistant

“You have to run the ball downhill. You can’t run sideline to sideline because of (Alabama’s) team speed and how the D-ends play. You have to go fast, and I wouldn’t do much of a man-blocking scheme. A man vs. man blocking scheme in the run game will be disastrous because of how good their defensive line is and how physical they are. You have to either do a gap- or zone-blocking scheme. You gotta go downhill.” -- SEC offensive assistant coach

“Their ability to move the ball against LSU in the run game was impressive, so I do think they’re going to have some ability to do that. But you can only do that so long. You’re gonna have to have ways to take shots downfield and make explosive plays, and you’re probably going to have to do it on the nonpredictable downs. If they can run the ball successfully like they were running the ball against LSU in the second half, then they can create some one-on-one matchups outside, and that’s where they have to take their shots.” -- Power 5 defensive coordinator

“You can’t load the box up. If you’re going to run the football, Florida’s most success is going to be when it goes into spread formations and leave it to where you can get a five-man box and run the football from that. If you go tight end and fullback, I wish you the best, but it ain’t gonna happen because they are just going to use their weight room and just back you out. Just spread them out and run the frigging football.” -- SEC offensive assistant coach

QB Austin Appleby has completed less than 55 percent of his passes in the last two games and has eight sacks to one touchdown. How does he make plays against Alabama's defense?

“[Wide receiver] [Antonio] Callaway has to have a big game, and I think he can. When you look at Alabama’s Achilles’ heel -- it’s not at linebacker, it’s not up front -- it’s in the secondary. Florida has a matchup there that I think they can win with because they have enough guys with the tight end they can flex out, and they can create some one-on-ones. [Coach] [Jim] McElwain’s got to use [the] play-action pass to slow down [Alabama’s defense].” -- SEC head coach

“You have to take shots on their secondary because they’re such an aggressive bunch, especially their safeties, that they come downhill, and once they see run, it’s blood in the water. They’re coming down there to wreck house. So do some hard play-action and attack the middle of the field or down the side, and that’s your chance right there. The safeties are going to come down; they’re not going to have safety help.” -- SEC offensive assistant

“You have to attack No. 28 [Anthony Averett]. The kid is obviously a hard worker, and it seems like he’s fundamentally sound, but he’s kind of limited athletically. And No. 15 [Ronnie Harrison], he’s a physical kid, but you have to get one-on-one with him. If they can get 81 [Callaway] in any kind of matchup with 15, that’s what you do. Find ways to get matchups with their slower DB, No. 15.” -- SEC offensive assistant

“They don’t have enough confidence in what the quarterback is seeing to say, ‘Hey, let’s give him more.’ They’re playing not to lose, and this is the game where you’ve got to go guerrilla warfare -- getting into 22 personnel and playing empty because Alabama will have an empty three- or four-play defense call sheet. Coming out in 13 personnel and let your tight end go one-on-one and get big on a corner. Going 12 and 21 personnel and off play-action, taking shots -- taking one-on-one shots with max protection and running race routes, I’m talking about running cross-country routes across the field. If you can get those dudes running diagonals or cross-countries or race routes, now you can separate them.” -- SEC head coach

“If you can get a fast, quick guy on [cornerback] Minkah Fitzpatrick and give him a more particular route -- like a dig route or a stop route or just changing directions really quickly -- you can kind of get him open because Minkah likes to just read the quarterback’s eyes and play off him; he doesn’t really care about the route.” -- SEC offensive assistant

Florida has one of the nation's best defenses, but how does it stop Alabama's explosive offense and QB Jalen Hurts?

“Alabama’s only weakness is the interior game. They beat us on the edge with their skill athletes. They didn’t seem to want to run the ball inside. They’re risky on taking some shots on first-and-10. Alabama did not want to play between the tackles with the run game. It’s shot plays, it’s flash, it’s perimeter, it’s speed. I don’t see them wanting to line up and make it a tough-guy contest.” -- SEC defensive coordinator

“You cannot let them run the ball. You’ve got to set the edges of the defense, and you’ve got to make the quarterback beat you. [Hurts] is a young guy, but Florida has talented guys on defense, and if you make him beat you, then you have a chance to win the game. You have to be able to create pressure on him -- not necessarily overload, but at least enough to where the guy can’t run the ball.” -- Power 5 defensive coordinator

“When they are rushing four guys, they’ll emphasize keeping [Hurts] in the pocket and making him play quarterback. You’re going to have to mix up your pressures between three-down and four-down, and also with that, you’re not always playing single-high coverage. You’re gonna play some different kinds of coverages with those pressures to force the quarterback to hold the ball. ... That’s how you can get the sacks, forced fumbles." -- Power 5 defensive coordinator

“You sit back and make him play quarterback. The easiest thing you can do against a young or inexperienced talented quarterback is play man-to-man because they’ve been playing man-to-man their whole life, and they’re good enough, and they have enough arm talent to win. When you change the pictures and you make them really play quarterback and understand coverage, and you keep changing that coverage picture, that’s more challenging [for them].” -- SEC defensive coordinator

Any final advice?

“The only way that this game is close is if Florida can make a statement early offensively about putting points on the board. If they don’t put points on the board early, this thing’s gonna be a blowout like it was last year. Florida has to win the first quarter, win the second quarter, put themselves in the third quarter and be in striking distance in the fourth quarter, because that’s how you beat Alabama.” -- SEC head coach

“No one’s going to give them a chance to win the game, and they’re pretty heavy underdogs. Therefore, they should be able to play loose and take some chances.” -- Power 5 defensive coordinator