When Will Muschamp and Kurt Roper announced that the Florida Gators would be using a two quarterback system this week and moving forward in the 2014 season it raised eyebrows and questions among Gators fans.
First thought brings fans back to the good ole’ days where Steve Spurrier would change quarterbacks quicker than a summer storm rolling in over Gainesville. Spurrier famously rotated Doug Johnson and Noah Brindise not on a quarter-by-quarter basis, or even series by series. Spurrier was tipped off that Florida State would try to steal signals from the sideline so he decided to rotate the quarterbacks on each play. Spurrier even thought about throwing Jesse Palmer into the mix, to really shake things up, but said he “chickened out” at the last minute.
Of course, more recently, Urban Meyer utilized a freshman Tim Tebow as a battering ram during Tebow’s freshman season with Chris Leak managing most of the game. That season ended with a national championship.
What will this version of a two-quarterback system look like at Florida? Don’t expect the conservative Muschamp to pull a Spurrier and have the Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris rotate every play.
As a mater of fact, all this talk of a two-quarterback system might hyperbole.
“We’re going to see who has the hot hand and see who’s helping move our football team and gives us the best opportunity to win,” Muschamp said on the weekly SEC teleconference on Wednesday. “We’ll make that decision as we go through the game.”
On Monday, Muschamp left the door open as to which of the two quarterbacks — Driskel or Harris — would start the game Saturday, only stating that “right now” Jeff would start. On Tuesday, Roper gave a more firm statement, blankly stating that Driskel would start the game.
“Jeff’s going to start, but this week obviously is an important week to see how each guy prepares and does all those things,” said Roper. “Hopefully we do get a hot hand and do well the whole game. I’d like to get a hot hand for sure.”
What if Driskel goes out and leads the Gators on two consecutive scoring drives to start the game? Do we even see Harris inserted into the mix if Driskel starts the game hot? Conversely, if Jeff struggles early and Harris provides a similar spark as he did late in the game against Tennessee does that mean Driskel will be resigned to holding a clipboard the rest of the game?
“Both guys deserve and have earned the opportunity to play,” Muschamp said. “And we’re still kind of going through that in today’s practice and into Thursday. And Kurt [Roper] and I will sit down Friday morning and make a final decision of what we need to do.”
The game this Saturday is a turning point in the season. A win keeps Florida competitive and in the race in the SEC East. A loss sends them to the cellar with an obstructed view from the backseat.
Muschamp’s seat is hot. A loss to a bad Missouri team who was torched 34-0 last week by Georgia would turn that seat into molten lava. He needs a win to cool his seat down and it’s ironic that he’ll need one of his two quarterbacks to get hot on Saturday to do just that.
The answer is that they won’t. Driskel is still the quarterback, nothing has changed except some lip service to appease the fans. Roper said as much when he went into detail about Harris wasn’t able to this or that, or was just a freshman, etc. Go with “the hot hand?” That means you won’t see Harris until some “driskelling” happens. Driskel is getting the “majority” of first team reps in practice. That means Harris is squeezed in for a play here and there while Jeff is toweling off. It’s like the scene in “The Godfather” where the brother in-law tries to lie to Michael. Does Muschamp think anyone actually believes he’s ready to bench Driskel? I don’t. I think Muschamp STILL thinks Jeff is a ‘great” quarterback and hasn’t changed his mind at all about thinking that Driskel gives the Gators the best chance to win. I’d be shocked if Harris is part of the gameplan. If Harris comes in, it’s because Driskel sucked. I hate to be pessimistic, but I think I know the mind of Will Muschamp, It’s not hard to figure him out, maybe that’s why he’s outcoached so frequently, he’s very predictable.
I’s like to see what the criteria used for “deserve and earned’ and how that is determined -you know, for playing time. Based on our current results, at least someone should be duct-taped to a chair and locked in the locker room until the game has ended. I mean that in a loving a nurturing way, of course. One thing I have noticed is the Offensive line is way better than it has been for quite some time. Catching, throwing and play-calling concerns me…Onward and upward. GO GATORS!!!
Mike Summers has done an incredible job with the offensive line. The entire unit is playing much better than they have in years.
Muschamp has never been good at handling his QBs and it has burnt us his entire time at UF. Two years ago he gave us a promise that he would play both Brissett and Driskel and then go with the hot hand. Brissett got one lousy series and rode the pine. Never even gave the kid a chance.
Now he has the same situation with Harris and Driskel. From everything we’ve seen on the field, Harris has out-performed Driskel and yet Muschamp is playing the same game. I have no doubt they will play Driskel and Harris will ride the pine until Driskel’s first TO