Jeff Driskel took the first snap when spring practice began last month; Jacoby Brissett took the first snap in Saturday’s spring game.
What does it mean? Nothing, apparently. At least not yet.
As Florida completed its second spring practice season under coach Will Muschamp, the competition at quarterback remains murky at best. Muschamp said Monday that the battle will continue through the summer and into fall regardless of the two sophomores’ individual performances in Saturday’s Orange & Blue Debut.
Neither Brissett nor Driskel did much to distance himself from the other Saturday, but that’s also a good thing. Both quarterbacks were sharp in leading lengthy scoring drives, finding open receivers and not forcing the ball into coverage. Driskel finished 12 of 14 for 147 yards with a rushing touchdown, while Brissett completed 9 of 16 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think today you saw both those guys take command of our football team. Both guys made vertical plays down the field, good decisions where they took the ball,” Muschamp said. “You saw what I’ve been seeing from 14 practices previous to today. I’ve said before, we can win with both guys.”
After a slow start in which both quarterbacks failed to convert their first opportunities under center into points, Brissett made the first highlight play when he found Latroy Pittman in single coverage for a 43-yard gain down the left sideline. It was a perfectly thrown ball that hit the freshman receiver in stride and the type of play that Florida’s offense lacked a season ago.
Coaches and players alike have raved throughout spring about Pittman, an early enrollee who has made waves in his first spring in Gainesville and finished with two catches for 51 yards.
“He’s been showing us he can make plays," Brissett said. “Only thing we can do is just throw the ball up and give him a chance.”
Asked what he brings to the offense that Driskel does not, Brissett showed that the competition between the two remains light-hearted.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m slower, so, that’s what I’m lacking,” he said. “Jeff is a great quarterback. He can make every throw that I can make, so it’s going to be tough to see what the real difference is.”
On Driskel’s first series, he displayed that difference in speed with two designed run plays that gained 12 yards. But if he’s going to beat out Brissett for the job, it will be with his arm, and that didn’t look too shabby, either. Driskel set a new spring game record for completion percntage (.857) and looked considerably more comfortable in the pocket than he did when thrust into the lineup last season after John Brantley was injured.
“Last year, I was kind of a little clueless out there, just kind of locking onto one guy,” he said. “I feel like I’m going through my progressions more and just playing instead of thinking.”
Driskel referenced one play in particular, a crossing route to Andre Debose that went for a 44-yard gain, in which he had at least five or six seconds to find an open man. That time, he said, is also an indication that the offensive line has improved from a season ago, when it was one of the team’s biggest weaknesses.
Now that spring practice has concluded, Muschamp said it’s up to the quarterbacks to create separation between themselves as the coaches are not allowed to be involved during offseason conditioning. Still, he expects Driskel and Brissett to organize and lead the team in player-run practices.
“(Offseason leadership) is a huge, huge indicator to see who takes a leg up and see who's going to get our football out there and do team drills,” Muschamp said. “That's what it has to be now. I can't be out there. ... They've got to take control of our football team.”
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org.
