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The SEC East is very shaky this season, with no clear favorite through five weeks. Outside of Vanderbilt (sorry, ‘Dores fans), it seems like any team has a chance. That includes the Florida Gators, coming off a 4-8 season a year ago and a 42-21 beatdown at the hands of Alabama two weeks ago. In that loss, Jeff Driskel was abysmal, completing 9-of-28 passes for 98 yards, throwing 2 INT against 1 TD.
That’s opened up a can of worms in Gainesville, with questions as to whether Driskel is capable of leading a respectable Gators team.
FLORIDA QB
Players involved: Jeff Driskel, Treon Harris
Now in his fourth season at Florida, Driskel has never quite found the right rhythm as the Gators’ starting quarterback. Whether it was inexperience, injury or playing in a system that didn’t fit his skill set, Driskel hasn’t proven himself to be the right guy to lead Florida. Meanwhile, several players who were stuck behind Driskel and transferred out have found success at their new schools, adding to the unrest. The Gators brought in offensive coordinator Kurt Roper this season, and his system was supposed to utilize Driskel’s mobility and maximize his talent. So far, results aren’t promising.
On the bench sits freshman Treon Harris, a four-star recruit from Miami with loads of potential. Harris has thrown all of two passes in the first three games of the season, both when he came in for mop-up duty against Eastern Michigan. He flashed a serious feel for the moment and, in his debut, connected on his first two passes for a total of 148 yards and 2 TD. That alone is enough to spark a fanbase’s imagination about what the potential budding superstar could do.
Driskel’s performance against Alabama did quite the opposite. Despite his inability to direct the offense to any points outside of a fortunate short drive after one of Alabama’s numerous turnovers, the coaching staff never wavered from the veteran. Without the turnovers Florida forced, the final score would have been far uglier.
Roper and Will Muschamp have publicly stated their support for Driskel, even defending him when Florida legend Emmitt Smith called for his benching. But with the way the coaches operated the offense in the second half of the Alabama game, it seemed clear that they in fact do not trust Driskel.
How long can Florida wait to see if Driskel can turn it around and lead a successful offense? The East is extremely winnable; it’s not out of the question that the division champion could have three conference losses. Florida, sitting at 1-1 right now, could easily be that team. If Driskel can’t get it done once again against Tennessee this weekend, it will be high time for the coaching staff to see if Harris can.
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
