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McElwain says the Gators’ quarterback battle is far from over
By John Hollis
Published:
Will Grier has moved ahead in the battle to become Florida’s permanent starting quarterback, but coach Jim McElwain says the competition is far from over.
McElwain used Monday’s weekly press conference to warn the media against jumping to conclusions after Grier went the distance in Saturday’s hard-fought 14-9 win at Kentucky.
“Don’t read anything into that as far as how that goes this week,” he said as his team begins preparations for this week’s pivotal SEC East matchup with Tennessee. “We’ll decide as we move forward.”
However, it’s clear that Grier, a redshirt sophomore, has moved ahead in the competition with sophomore Treon Harris. Grier’s start at Kentucky was his second consecutive start but marked the first time that Harris did not play at all.
Grier completed 13 of 22 for 125 yards but was guilty of an interception in the red zone in the third quarter that drew his coach’s ire because it denied the Gators the chance to build a commanding lead.
But the former national high school player of the year delivered some of his most impressive work on the ground, rushing 12 times for a team-best 61 yards and a touchdown.
But even that was a double-edged sword as McElwain said Grier left several big plays on the field by abandoning the pocket too quickly in favor of running.
It was for those reasons that he characterized Grier’s play as just “OK.”
“He did some decent things,” McElwain said. “He’s obviously got a whole lot of growing up to do.”
Harris, who started six games for Florida last year in place of an ineffective Jeff Driskel, warmed up along the sidelines at one point when the Gators offense began struggling but was never called into action as UK tried to mount a rally.
McElwain said Harris was “obviously disappointed” in not playing but was as excited as anybody about the team’s victory.
“He’ll prepare. He’ll be ready,” McElwain said. “We’ll see what happens this week.”
In other news from the press conference:
• McElwain cited inconsistency in practice as the reason why freshman tailback Jordan Scarlett did not get any carries against Kentucky. “You’ve got to do it every day,” the coach said.
• The ongoing struggles of kicker Austin Hardin is “starting to become a concern,” McElwain said. Hardin had a 34-yard attempt blocked by the Wildcats in the second quarter and is just 3 of 6 on the season.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
