Quarterback Jeff Driskel suffered a sprained right ankle during Florida’s 27-20 win against Louisiana on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Coach Will Muschamp did not know the severity of Driskel’s injury following the game.
"All they tell me is, 'He's out,'" Muschamp said. "And I say, 'Is he coming back?' 'Right now, no.' That's all I heard. You move on."
The Gators turned to backup signal caller Jacoby Brissett, who engineered a game-tying touchdown drive in the game’s final three minutes. In Driskel’s absence, Brissett completed 6 of 8 passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
"Just to come in and make sure I pull together,” Brissett said. “Make sure I stay under control. Know what we did in practice because that transfers into the game, and I got to come in and show up."
Left Guard James Wilson (knee) and left tackle Xavier Nixon (knee) both missed Saturday’s game despite being listed as “probable” earlier this week. Ian Silberman, who started in place of Wilson suffered a shoulder injury. D.J. Humphries replaced Nixon.
Defensive tackle Leon Orr missed Saturday’s game due to a kidney infection and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season. Orr missed Florida’s 14-7 win against Missouri on Nov. 3 after he was hospitalized with the flu last week.
"He’ll be ready for the bowl game,” Muschamp said. “It was a situation that got a little more serious than we thought."
Flags: The Gators entered Saturday with the most penalty yards in the Southeastern Conference. Against Louisiana, Florida racked up 79 penalty yards on 10 flags, including several in critical spots.
“Obviously, the penalties just killed us in the game,” Muschamp said.
On the Ragin’ Cajuns’ first touchdown drive, a pass interference call on Loucheiz Purifoy turned a failed third-and-4 attempt into first and goal on the 2-yard line for Louisiana.
One play later, UF gave up a touchdown run that cut its lead to 13-10.
Earlier on the same drive, an offside flag on Lerentee McCray shortened a third-and-10 situation for the Ragin’ Cajuns to third and 5. Louisiana quarterback Terra Broadway ran 7 yards for a first down on the ensuing snap.
Purifoy again committed a costly penalty when he was charged for defensive holding on an incomplete pass on third and 5. Purifoy’s flag extended the drive that helped the Ragin’ Cajuns open up a 20-13 lead against the Gators.
Said Purifoy of his penalties: “You’ve just got to play through that.”
“We’ve talked about it, we’re going to reemphasize it again,” Muschamp said. “We have emphasized it every day in every situation we could. We’ve benched guys, we’ve put and we’ve done everything we can do. We’re going to find another way.”
Quarterback Jeff Driskel escapes the pass rush on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida beat Louisiana 27-20.
