During Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide have flustered quarterbacks with regularity.
They have elite talent at all three levels of the defense and a scheme that has proven to be tough to beat. So, when you combine a hellacious pass rush, tight coverage and the pressure of feeling like you have to score 40 or more points to win the game, it can be quite an overwhelming experience for opposing quarterbacks.
But not for Florida’s Emory Jones. After throwing four interceptions and looking extremely uncomfortable operating the Gators’ offense against overmatched opponents at times in the first two games, he gained confidence against the Tide.
“He kind of played tight, I thought, in the first two games a little bit,” coach Dan Mullen said. “And then we go play Alabama, and he’s kind of what we expected him to look like. He’s kind of relaxed out there making the plays that we’ve seen him make all during training camp.”
Jones completed 17 of 27 passes for 181 yards. He also rushed 19 times for 80 yards and a touchdown. He looked more comfortable going through his progressions and finding the open receivers, something that he struggled with in the first two games. He didn’t panic and try to force the ball into traffic when things didn’t go as planned.
For example, midway through the second quarter, they ran a play-action rollout to the right. Running back Nay’Quan Wright ran a wheel route to the left and appeared to be the primary option. However, Alabama linebacker Henry To’oTo’O covered him well. Just as a blitzing Jalyn Armour-Davis was about to drill him, Jones fired a pass to a wide-open Keon Zipperer on a crossing route for 30 yards.
In the first two games, he might’ve tried to force it into Wright anyway or took off running. This time, he stood in the pocket and delivered a strike.
Jones said that his first two starts taught him how much work he has to put in throughout the week to be successful on game day. That additional preparation caused him to be more comfortable against the Tide.
“Just basically the grind and the mental effort that you have to put in to get it done at the quarterback position, the preparation and the attention to detail that you have to be aware of every single play, I definitely learned that the first couple games, and I’m still learning every game that I play,” Jones said. “I’m taking something from every game and trying to apply it to the next.
“That’s what I learned from the first two games – that I had to do more preparation-wise, and I feel like I did for that game. But we still fell short, so I feel like I have to do more.”
Jones also demonstrated patience and discipline against the Tide. Alabama did a nice job of covering the deep routes. With the Gators down by as many as 18 points at one point, it must’ve been tempting to just say “What do I have to lose?” and chuck the ball down the field anyway.
Instead, he took what the defense gave him and fueled the Gators’ epic comeback one first down at a time.
“That’s a thing that I’ve learned from the previous games, the mistakes I made the previous games from just trying to do too much and just try to take unnecessary shots, try to make too many plays when there’s things that the defense is giving me,” he said.
“[There were] a couple times in the USF game that I had some easy throws that I actually took a shot on, and it was incomplete or something like that. We got back in the film, and it was like, ‘I could’ve just took the completion and kept going with the drive, and it probably would’ve came back to me later on in the drive.’ And that’s just something I’ve learned – just take what the defense gives me, and now the big shots and the touchdown plays will come with it.”
Mullen said that Jones’ progression this season isn’t unusual for a first-year starting quarterback, even one who has played in big games before like Jones. There are so many additional responsibilities that come with the promotion from being a change-of-pace option to the primary quarterback that it’s very easy for a player in Jones’ situation to play tight initially.
“It’s the weight of the entire game plan, the weight of the leadership of the team and how the team expects you to lead them,” Mullen said. “There’s a lot that goes with that. And then you get in there, and you want to do things right. With Emory, he understands that from watching the guys before him.
“I think maybe the pressure of exactness and the pressure of detail and the pressure of knowing you have this entire game plan that we expect you to go execute at an extremely high level is a different pressure than … ‘Hey, I’m going in to run a couple of plays. I’m going to go in and have some fun and make some things happen while I’m on the field.’ That takes some getting used to.”
Though the Gators lost the game, Jones silenced his detractors by turning in a strong performance that was nearly good enough to top the Tide.
“Personally, it was kind of a confidence-builder, just to go out there and play with our guys,” Jones said. “I had a feeling I was out there having fun and being comfortable with the team. It definitely was a confidence-builder for us. But we fell short of the result that we wanted. We’ve got to move on from that and get ready for this week.”
Mullen hopes that Jones’ outing against Alabama will be a launching pad to a more consistently comfortable and confident version of him moving forward.
“Hopefully, it makes him relax and play that way consistently now,” Mullen said. “The hard part is our body of work isn’t much. It’s from practice. That’s what we’ve seen from him leading into the season, a guy that kind of makes the right plays, makes the right check, usually getting the ball to the right read and making pretty good decisions in the run game, and then using his athletic ability to improvise and make some things happen on top of that. That’s what we’ve seen a whole bunch of.
“So, I think for him, hopefully, it does lead to maybe a comfort level, [knowing] that, ‘Hey, I’m fine. I’ve got a couple games under my belt. I can be a little more relaxed and go make plays out there on the field.’”