re: Gumps fear

The biggest reason to fear FSU is that they recruit the same region.

Both teams are extremely close right now but Oregon has the stronger/tough strength of schedule from here on out so if they go undefeated then they're likely the team that will earn the spot. Also, Oregon has the better QB. Jameis Winston is an outstanding QB for FSU but Marcus Mariota is better and he's the type of QB Bama has struggled with. For example, Mariota has more rushing yards that Manziel right now and he's a more accurate passer.

To date:
Mariota
Passing yards: 2281
Rushing yards: 511 (avg. 9.1 w/56 attempts)
INTS: 0
TDS: 20

Winston
Passing yards: 2177
Rushing yards: 126 (he averages 2.9 w/44 attempts)
INTS: 4
TDS: 23

The biggest difference between Mariota and Winston is that Winston is a crowd-pleaser that gets a lot of viewing in the South where CFB is king whereas Mariota runs a steady efficiency based offense and is one of the most lowkey players out there, esp. for a QB (he avoids the spotlight like the plague).

Both teams are good but true dual threat/mobile QBs give Bama's D a more difficult time than immobile ones.