Former Gator battles Gators

Less than a year ago, Pensacola's Trent Richardson was debating whether to play for Alabama or Florida. This Saturday, he'll be able to prove himself to both.

Since announcing he was going to "Roll with the Tide," Pensacola's Trent Richardson has run for six touchdowns, landed an SEC Freshman of the Week, and helped win an Iron Bowl.

"We could see it from day one," said Derrick Boyd, Escambia High School Wide Receivers coach, who was a close confidant of Richardon's during his recruitment. "He works extra hard, but he has a lot of god-given ability. Look at his body, he was created to play football."

Richardson gave a verbal commitment to Alabama before last season, but still wanted to keep his options open. As Boyd remembers, Florida made a late charge. A week after the Gators won last season's national championship, Richardson took a trip to Gainesville and liked what he saw.

"Coach Urban Meyer likes Trent a lot," recalled Boyd. "They share the same birthday. Trent went down to Gainesville and saw the kind of love they got after they won the championship; he was kind of torn."

Add to that, Richardson shared some similarities to a former Gator, the NFL's all-time rushing leader, Emmitt Smith.

"Initially people said, you play for Escambia, Emmitt's high school. You can go to Florida, Emmitt's college. Maybe you can go to Dallas and be like Emmitt."

Richardson's grandmother, Gloria, along with thousands of Alabama fans, is pleased Trent chose Tuscaloosa.

"We, his family, wanted him to go to Alabama. But it was tense, especially at the end," stated Richardson.

Heading into the SEC Championship, Boyd said the situation has shifted a bit for Richardson.

"The incentive is, he knows Tebow, knows Chris Rainey. They talk on the phone all the time. Trent plays as hard as he can, if he's playing Australian rules football in practice, or the real big deal."

This Saturday, the deal doesn't get much bigger.

So far this season, Richardson has rushed for 562 yards and six touchdowns in 115 attempts (4.89 yards per carry and 46.8 yards per game). Richardson has 14 receptions for 107 yards. He rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries against Florida International in his second career game. He followed that up with 87 yards on 11 carries (7.9 ypc) against North Texas and 65 yards and a score vs. Arkansas.