UF quarterback Emory Jones is improving rapidly.
In the season opener against Florida Atlantic, he never looked comfortable, locked onto receivers, threw some inaccurate balls and tossed a couple of bad interceptions.
The following week, he played a very strong first half against South Florida before his decision-making issues resurfaced in the second half.
Last week, he played well for the most part against Alabama but did throw an interception and miss a couple of open receivers.
On Saturday against Tennessee, the redshirt junior turned in a historically good performance. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 15 times for 144 yards. He became the first Gator since Tim Tebow in 2009 to pass for at least 200 yards and rush for at least 100 yards in a game.
Additionally, Tebow and Jones are the only Florida quarterbacks to pull off the feat in the last 25 years. Jones’ 144 rushing yards are the fourth-most by a UF quarterback in the last 25 years and the third-most in the country this season.
Any time you’re in the same list as Tebow, you’re doing something right.
Not bad for a guy that many wanted benched for Anthony Richardson a couple of weeks ago.
“I’m just trying to get better week to week,” Jones said. “I feel like that’s what I’m doing. I’m feeling more comfortable out there, I’m feeling more comfortable week to week. That’s good. The guys up front have definitely been blocking their tails off. The guys outside have been making plays for me, so they’ve been making it pretty easy for me.”
Jones seemed to strike the perfect balance between patiently waiting in the pocket for receivers to come open and scrambling to create big plays with his legs. He didn’t go into passing plays looking to take off, and he didn’t try to force throws into tight coverage very often.
The result was an efficient night in the passing game and an explosive game on the ground for him. His 77.8 completion percentage tied for the 10th-highest completion percentage by a Gator with at least 25 pass attempts since 1996. It was his first time throwing for more than 200 yards in a game.
On the ground, a bunch of his rushing attempts came when he scrambled because the receivers weren’t open or he was under pressure.
But his biggest run of the night came on a designed play. In the fourth quarter, he kept the ball on a read-option play and followed Kemore Gamble’s block down the far sideline for 49 yards.
Jones was particularly efficient on third down. He completed seven of eight throws on third down and converted twice on scrambles.
“I think he did a great job making his reads, managing the offense, getting us in the right checks, into the right plays,” coach Dan Mullen said. “Decision-making was pretty good in the pass game and then obviously scrambling. You look at what he had, 15 carries, that’s probably a little much, but I think a bunch were like scrambles, too, and improvising. I don’t know if we called many direct quarterback runs in the game tonight. So, I think he had some runs and scrambles and reads, some explosive plays.”
Mullen said that he can tell that Jones’ confidence is increasing every week, which is allowing him to put different things into his game plans each week. Jones went under center more against the Volunteers than he did in the first three games.
“I just think when the playbook opens up and we have different plans each week, you’re starting to see his confidence a little bit more play in, which gives us more confidence that we can throw more things in from the playbook right there of how we want to attack people,” he said.
All you can ask for out of a first-year starting quarterback is steady improvement throughout the season. The Gators have gotten that out of Jones, which makes the remainder of this season something to look forward to. If he’s already putting up Tebow-like stats in week four, how good is he going to be come November?
Running back Dameon Pierce is proud of the way Jones played on Saturday.
“That’s my dawg,” he said. “My dawg balled. Quote me on that.
“You’ve got more to come. They’re just scratching the surface with Emory. That’s a guy with a lot of potential and a lot of grit. He’s just getting comfortable out there. He’s still getting his feet wet. Expect more of that from Emory.”
Jones is pleased to have earned his teammates’ support, and he looks forward to taking his game to an even higher level next week.
“I’m definitely just warming up,” Jones said. “Everything I’m doing, I’ve done before. All my teammates have seen me do all this and more for us. They are confident in me. They trust and believe in me. Like I said, I’m just trying to get better week to week and keep pushing these guys and keep this thing rolling.”
Evan, can you post the list of the Florida QBs who have had 100 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in the same game? Thanks.