Will Muschamp and Brent Pease made a decision on a primary quarterback for the Gators’ opener against Bowling Green on Saturday. But that doesn’t mean it is a long-term one.
“Haven’t made that decision,” Muschamp said of his starter going forward.
Because he felt like each had earned the right to start, Muschamp had Brissett start the game under center with Driskel lined up at wide receiver. The result of that play was a gain of zero on a Mike Gillislee run.
Driskel then played the remainder of the first quarter and part of the second quarter as he completed a drive that began in the first. Brissett went 3 for 5 for 31 yards on three drives to end the half.
After the coaches evaluated the first-half play of both quarterbacks at halftime, they decided to go with Driskel the rest of the way.
“We felt like Jacoby did a good job,” Muschamp said. “It’s nothing he wasn’t doing. I felt like the rhythm of the game dictated that we were going to need some pocket movement as far as some boots and naked and moving the pocket, and I felt like that Jeff gave us that better opportunity to work into the third quarter.”
Driskel finished the game 10 for 16 for 117 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came in the fourth quarter when he found Frankie Hammond Jr. on a short comeback route to the left. Hammond made a cornerback miss and took it the rest of the way. It was the longest completion of Driskel’s career by 28 yards.
“We were just looking to get the sticks, we wanted to pick up the first down,” Driskel said of the touchdown. “I saw him off coverage, so I just wanted to give him the ball. One on one, he made a good move and that was all there.”
When asked if he thought he deserved to start next week, Driskel chose not to speculate.
“I’m not worried about that right now,” he said. “The goal was to get a win and that is what we came out with. We were worried about game one and that is it. We are happy with the win.”
Muschamp reiterated that he and Pease had not decided on a quarterback for next week’s game against Texas A&M. Despite the fact that Brissett only threw the ball five times, he still wants a chance to evaluate both of the signal callers.
“We’re going to discuss it Sunday, guys,” he said. “We haven’t made any decisions. You can keep asking me questions, I haven’t made any decision. Brent and I are going to sit down tomorrow. I felt like today, in today’s game the flow of the game was in Jeff. And where we were headed, that’s what we needed to do. That doesn’t mean we’ve made a decision, and Brent and I will talk tomorrow.”
Contact Josh Jurnovoy at jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Jeff Driskel scrambles during Saturdays game against Bowling Green University.
